an annotated translation of the correspondence of john of
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Loyola University ChicagoLoyola eCommons
Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations
1946
An Annotated Translation of the Correspondenceof John of Salisbury: Letters 136-175Daniel V. HarkinLoyola University Chicago
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AN A~rnOTATED TRANSLATION OF
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN OF SALISBURY,
LETTERS 136-175
by
Daniel V. Harkin, S.J.
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment ot'
the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in
Loyola University
Chicago, Illinois
February
.l946
VITA
The candidate, DanieL V. Harkin, S.J., was born Septem-
ber 18, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. After eLementary schooling
in the Glencoe Public School, GLencoe, Illinois, he was enrolled
at Loyola Academy, Chicago, in September of 1933, and graduated
in 1937 •
He attended Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., from
1937 to May, 1940, when he returned to Chicago after the death
of hie father, and enrolled at the Lake Shore Campus of Loyola
University. A year later, in June, 1941, he received the de
gree of Bachelor of Arts here, hie major sequence being in
Latin.
During the scholastic year 1941-1942 he was appointed a
Graduate Assistant in the Department of Classics of Loyola Uni
versity Graduate School. He had completed the course require
ments and examinations for the degree of Master of Arts, and
was engaged in preparing the thesis herewith submitted, when in
August, 1942, he left Chicago to enter the California Province
of the society of Jesus.
At present, October, 1945, he is engaged in the Society's
course of philosophy at Mount St. Michael's, Spokane, Washing
ton.
PART I
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Of the early life of John of Salisbury, one of the great-
est scholars of the middle ages, little is known. He was born
in Salisbury, the present Old Sarum, between 1115 and 1120, and
received at least a part of his ear~y education from a priest
who also practised crystal-gazing, as he mentions in the Poll
era ticus .1.
' After the death of King Henry I in 1135, John continued
his studies in France, where he was taught first by Abelard,
afterwards by Alberic o!· Rheims, and then by Robert of Melun,
later Bishop of Hereford. At length, in 1137, he became a
pupil of William of Conches, probably at Chartres, and pursued
the studies of the medieval trivium and quadrivium in that
city. 2
In 1140 John returned to Paris, supporting himself there
by his services as tutor to young noblemen. In 1148 he attend
ed the council of Pope Eugenius III at Rheims,3 in whose court
he had perhaps spent the two years previous, according to C. C.
1cf. Policraticus, 2, 28; in ~!igne, Patrologia Latina, volume 199, columns 385 and following.
2cf. Metalogicon, 2, 10; in Migne, P.L., volume 199, columns 823 and following.
3cr. Policraticus, 2, 22.
1
2
J. Webb's conjecture. 4 It was at Rheims that he met his future
in tne persons of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Archbishop
Theobald of Canterbury; through a testimonial letter from the
former John would enter Theobald's service six years later, and
through Theobald in turn he would meet a headstrong young cleric
with whose life his own was to be closely intertwined, Thomas
Becket, at that time Archdeacon of Canterbury and soon to be
Chancellor to the King.
In the interim, however, John remained in the service of
Eugenius III until that prelate's death in 1153, and for some
months afterward under his successor, Anastasius IV. He was
employed apparently in the minutiae of curial documents, draft
ing papal bulle, as his close friend Petter of Celle says in
one of his letters.5 At last, in 1154, he became a member of
Archbishop Theobald's household. Acting as secretary to the
aging primate, he seems to have taken an active part in the
Archbishop's dealings with the Holy See, visiting Rome himself
repeatedly in audience with his friend Nicholas Breakspear,
Pope Adrian IV, and even falling under Henry II's displeasure
when his intermediary offices were reported to his majesty as
preJudicial to the interests of the crown. It was during the
4cf. Clement c. J. Webb, John of Salisbury, Methuen, London, 1932, pages 11-12, from which this account is largely condensed.
s,...t., v • Peter of Celle, Letter 72; in Migne, P.L., volume 202.
3
lull in his activities consequent on this displeasure that John
found time to complete hie two principal works, the Policraticus
and the :Metalogicon, both dedicated to hie friend and inter
cessor, Thomas of Canterbury, now King Henry II's Chancellor.
After Archbishop Theobald died in APril, 1161, his wish to
be succeeded by Thomas Becket6 found favor with King Henry, and
John was deputed to receive the pallium from Alexander III at
y·ontpelier. During the quarrels between Henry and Thomas which
began shortly after the latter's consecration, John remained
staunchly loyal to his friend, as hie correspondence shows. In
the storm raised by the Constitutions of Clarendon in November
of 1163, however, he felt his position growing more precarious,
and apparently as a result of' a royal edict he and his brother
Richard left England early the following year.
From this time until the brief reconciliation of Henry and
Thomas in 1170, John was in exile. He stayed for a time at
Paris, but made hie permanent headquarters with Peter of Celle
in Rheims, whence he travelled to conferences with Pope Alexan-
der III, King Louis VII of France, and many influential inter
mediaries. His primary object during these years, to judge
from his correspondence, was to work for the reconciliation of
the King and his Archbishop, and to effect his own recall on
6cr. John's Entheticus, 1295; in ~ligne, P.L., volume 199, columns 379-384.
--4
honorable terms. He seems also to have been much interested in
the settlement of the schism of Barbarossa and his anti-Pope
Victor IV, and gave his constant support to Alexander III, the
true Pope. TOgether with these activities, he was able to work
on or complete his Historia Pontificalis, of which a fragment
--all that he wrote or all that remains of it--is extant today.
John landed in England on November 16, 1170, preparing the
way for the return of the Archbishop, who had made a kind of
truce late in the previous July. He was at the martyr's side
the morning of his murder, December 29, 1170,7 and was in the
immediate vicinity, though probably not present, when the actu
al murder was committed. Shortly after Thomas' death, John
wrote a biographical sketch intended to introduce the martyr's
cause for canonization; for, in common with the Christian world
of his day, he never doubted Thomas' sanctity.
John himself, meanwhile, had been made Canon and Treasurer
of Exeter. He was invited by Louis VII of France, in 1176, to
accept the vacant bishopric of Chartres, and was consecrated on
August 8 of that year. His last appearance in the pages of
recorded history seems to have been his attendance at the third
Lateran Council in 1179. The following year, October 25, 1180,
he died, and was succeeded in his bishopric by his old friend
1cf. Herbert of BOsham, Vita Sancti Thomae 2 5, 11; in RObertson, Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, 7 volumes, London, Rolls Series, 1875-1883; {volume 3, page 487).
5
Peter of Celle, who seven years later was laid beside him in
st. :Jary' s Chapel of the "monastery of Josaphat," on the out
skirts of' Chartres.
The portion of JOhn's correspondence which here follows in
translation includes letters 136 to 175 of the edition of Rev.
William J. Millor, S.J. (University of London, 1939). The
first letter, 136, was written to Archbishop Thomas shortly
after John and his brother left England in 1164; the last, 175,
sometime in July of 1166. Millor's text, as well as his
chronological arrangement of the correspondence, has been fol
lowed throughout.
PARTS II AND III
LETTERS 136 TO 175:
TRANSLATION AND NOTES
•
6
Letter 136: John to Archbishop Thomas Becket
To the venerable lord and dear father Thomas, by grace of
God Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England, his servant
John of Salisbury wishes health and the happy fulfillment of his
prayers:
The moment I stepped on this shore of the channel I seemed
to sense a milder and more tranquil clime, and once the storm-
squalls began to subside I was surprised at the general pros
perity everywhere, and at the calm and happy temper of the peo
ple. When I disembarked, the liegemen of Count Arnold, 1 at his
command and under the direction of his grandson Arnold II, 2 wel
comed me deferentially, and out of respect for you3 put his home
and grounds at the disposal of myself and my retinue. They re
lieved me of all bother with social amenities and escorted me
almost all the way to Saint-Omer.4 Upon my arrival there I was
very nobly received in the monastery of St. Bertin5 through the
efforts of a certain Marsilius, a monk who used to stop at Chil
ham and Trowley;6 it was clear to see that the church here has
nigh esteem for the holy see of Canterbury and yourself. If yo
please, you might express your gratitude to both the Count and
1 Arnold I, Count of Guinea. 2 The son of Baldwin and grandson of Arnold I. 3 Archbisr1op Thomas, when chancellor, had knighted Baldwin. 4 In Flanders. 5 The monastery of St. Bertin in Saint-Omer, Flanders. 6 In Kent.
7
the monks when an occasion offers. When I had gone from there
to Arras,7 I heard that Count PhilipS was at Castle L'Ecluse,9
from which the tyrant of Ypresl0 was expelled after that long
siege. I turned off in that direction, then, and as the Lord
mercifully sped my Journey in every way, I met the Count not far
from the highway. This was because he was at falconry, tramping
about through streams, marshes, swamps, and gushing springs,
after the fashion of the rich, who delight in this kind of
trifLing. He was happy to find a man from whom he might hear
a reliable account of conditions in England, and I was even hap-
pier, because God had shown him to me so that I fulfilled your
command without going far out of my way. He made many inquiries
about the king and the nobles, but I so tempered my replies that
my conscience does not reprove me for lying nor can anyone
charge me with speaking rashly of matters or state. When the
Count heard of your straitened circumstances he expressed his
sympathy and promised help. He will even procure ships, if your
needs become pressing and if he is forewarned, as he should be.
If the storm should actually force you to fLee, send on Philip11
at least, as your purchasing agent, to use the influence of the
7 About 15 miles southeast of Douai, Flanders. 8 Philip of Amiens, son or Theodoric, Count of Flanders. 9 A couple of French miles south of Douai. It can be found
marked in Bleau's map of 1640. 0 William or Ypres, a FLemish knight formerly in the service of
King Stephen, predecessor of Henry II of England. ll Philip of' Calne, manciple of the archbishop.
8
count and to contract with sailors and porters as may be ex-
pedient. I took leave of the Count after this and arrived the
following day at Noyon. Wherever I went, there seemed to be
some restless, swift-moving rumor that had already made public
tne plight of the English and the molestations our churches are
suffering; so true was this that I heard there of many proceed
ings of the councils of London12 and Wilton, 13 of which I had
never heard in England. Of course, as is often the case, many
of the reports were greater and worse than the truth. I tried
very carefully t0 put a varnish on all the talk that was on the
common tongue, but I won full credence neither when I pretended
that things were going well nor when I dissembled our reverses.
And here is something surprising: the day I was at Noyon, the
Count of Soissonsl4 rattled off to the deanl5 all the articles
12 Held in October, 1163. 13 "John calls it conventus Wintoniensis, but there was no
assembly at Winchester, and we must conclude that Wintoniensis is a scribal error for Wi1toniensis. The present city of Salisbury was not then in existence, and the council of Clarendon might be named from Wilton, the town nearest to it, and distant only three or four miles." R. L. Poole in the preface to his edition of the Historia Pontificalis, page lxxix.
14 Ivo de Nigella. 15 Baldwin de Beuseberg, later Bishop of Noyon, 1167-1175·
9
of' the London asselnoly (or perhaps I should say 11dissemblynl6)
as if he had been present personally at all the proceedings, not
only those that transpired in the palace, but even those men
tioned most guardedly by one party or the other in the privy
chamber. 17 I find it hard to believe that the French have not
wary agents there, either of their own people or of ours. The
dean of Noyon, staunch and loyal as he is, was very sorry to
hear of the extortion to which you were subjected.l8 He is
ready to welcome you, and will not only offer you all his goods,
but is prepared, should there be need of it, to put even his own
person at the disposal of the see of Canterbury. He had decided
to approach the Curia, but being uncertain of your own position
and anxious about it he is awaiting definite word at home. At
Noyon I was advised that the French kingl9 was at Laon, and that
16 The text of I\Ullor's edition reads: " ••• articulos Londoniensis, nescio conciliabuli aut disciliabuli dicam ••• 11 The word "disciliabulum" does not appear in Du Cange's Glossarium Iviediae et Inf'imae Latini tatis, nor in any classical dictionary to which the translator has had access; the word seems rather to be a pun on the opposite meanings of the prefixes con- and dis-, coining a word by the combination. Hence the attempt to reproduce this in the translation.
17 Perhaps in reference to~ Kings, 6, 12. 18 In reference perhaps to the articles of the Constitutions of
Clarendon, or to Henry II's policy of reclaiming lands for the crown. It might possibly refer to Henry's demand for the Archbishop to account ror monies handled by him as chancellor, when the latter put himself on the king's mercy at the council of Northampton, October 1164; but this would date the letter after that time, which seems improbable.
19 Louis VII.
10
my lord of Rheims20 was at hand waiting :ror a conrerence with
him. I determined therefore to go to them, but because of the
skirmishes which the Count of Roucy21 and some other nobles were
conducting against my lord of Rheims I abandoned my intention
and turned toward Paris. Here I was amazed to see the abundance
or rood, the happiness or the people and their reverence ror the
clergy, the dignity and grandeur of the church, and the various
pursuits of the philosophers. It was a sight like that ladder
or Jacob's22 whose top touched heaven and was a pathway for
ascending and descending angels; my happy stay there has forced
me to avow that "Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew
it not."23 And that line of the poet came also to mind: " fortunate indeed to be given that ground for place o:r exile ••
tt24 After a few days spent in renting a hospice and collect-. . 20 Henry of France, brother or Louis VII and archbishop of
Rheims, 1162-1175. 21 Robert Guisca.rd, who had robbed the messenger of the Arch
bishop of Lyons and had been cited by the Archbishop of Rheims, the Archbishop of Lyons having died in the meantime. The count appealed to the Pope, who issued a mandate, dated at Sene, February 27, 1165, ordering him to restore the money under pain of excommunication. (Cf. Letter 304 of Alexander III, Migne, Patrologia Latina, volume 200, column 333.)
22 Cf. Genesis 28. 12. 23 Genesis 28.16 24 Ovid, Fasti 1.540. The text of Ovid in the Loeb Classical
Library edition here reads "felix exilium cui locus lste fuit." The line as written by John reads "felix exilium, cui locus iste datur." John's quotations from Biblical and profane sources often do not agree verbatim with modern texts. 1fuere the change involves only word order or the substitution of synonyms, the translation of the modern text has been in-
11
ing my baggage, I went to the French king and gave him an order
ly description or your case. Why say more? He sympathized,
promised aid, and declared that he had written to my lord
pope25 on your behalf, and that he would write again if neces
sary and do what he could by way of personal appeal. When I
paid him his daughter's26 respects, having seen her recently at
Salisbury with full permission of my lady Q,ueen, 2'7 he answered
that it wou.Ld be his greatest joy if' she had already been re
ceived by the ange.Ls in Paradise. When I subjoined that in
God's mercy this would happen sometime, but that she would
1'irst gladden many peoples, the king replied "Even this is poe-
sible to God, but it is far more likely that she will be the
cause of many evils." God forbid what her father's heart fore
bodes, for "I scarce.Ly hope," he said, "that any good can come
serted unchanged; where the discrepancy is greater than this, the English translation has been adapted to fit John's version. In either case, however, all deviations from the modern text will be indicated in the notes. The English translation adapted here is !'rom Sir James G. Frazer's trans lation of the Fasti, in the Loeb Classical Library series, Wm. Heinemann, Ltd., London, 1931.
25 Alexander III. 26 ; . .[argaret, the young princess whom Louis VII had entrusted to
Henry II's care, and whose marriage to the latter's son Henry was celebrated, without a word of warning to King Louis, on November 2, 1160; the husband was five and a half years old and the bride hardly three. Henry II's motive for this was probably to ta.Ke over the Horman Vexin, which terri tory had been promised as ~furgaret's marriage portion. Cf. Cambridge !'/Iedieval History, volume V, pp. 611, 612.
27 Eleanor, wife of Henry II and former wife of Louis VII.
----
12
from her." The French fear and hate our king in equal measure,
but as regards them--we may let things sleep quietly. As I was
unable myself to go to the Bishop of Rheims, I addressed my let
ter to the Abbot of St. Remy,28 a very close friend of mine,
asking him to take my place in that quarter. For the rest, the
best plan seems to me for you to send a letter with some little
gift to my lord of Rheims by some monk of Boxley29 or some
other reliable messenger, and strike up a friendship with him;
for whatever he may be in himself, he is powerful in the French
kingdom and very intluential in the Roman church, thanks both
to the king and to the prestige of his own see. I have not yet
gone up to the church of Rome,3° but am avoiding it as much as
possible, so that there may be no grounds for entertaining sus
picion against me. And this very motive, as I have learned from
a letter of my lord of Poitiera,3l is well known to my lord
Pope and the Curia. After receiving your letter, I wrote then
and there to my lord Henry32 and to William of Pavia,33 and ex
plained in full how the high-handed treatment offered you will
28 Peter of Celle, abbot of St. Remy at Rheims from 1162 until he succeeded John of Salisbury as Bishop of Chartres in 1180. John enjoyed Peter's hospitality during his exile in France from 1164 until 1170.
29 A Cistercian abbey at Boxley, Kent. 30 The Roman Curia was then residing at Sene. 31 John Belmeis, Bishop of Poitiers 1162-1182, and later Arch
bishop of Lyons. 32 Henry of Pisa, cardinal of SS. Nereus and Achilleus. 33 Cardinal of St. Peter at Vincula.
13
tend to the ruin of the Roman church if it is allowed to con-
tinue. I put o:t'f going there, however, since we know nothing
certain of the crossing of the Abbot of St. Augustine34 or the
Bishop of Lisieux;35 if they arrive at the Curia I can get word
of it quickly from master Henry,36 who is staying there. But I
do not see clearly what I can do there then, for they are doing
you much harm and little good. For great men will come, lavish
ly bestowing their wealth (a practice which Rome has never
despised) and relying not on their own influence alone, but on
that of my lord King, whom the Curia will in no way dare offend.
More than this, they will have been reint'orced with grants from
the Roman church, which in cases or this sort has rarely or neve
yielded to any bishop. Finally, my lord Pope has been constant
ly opposed to us in this case, and decries to this day what was
done for us by Adrian,37 who was devoted to the see of Canter-
34 Clarembald, who was then engaged in the old quarrel between the abbots of st. Augustine and the archbishops of Canterbury over the profession of obedience. Confer Letter 67 of l•1illor' s edition. In a letter dated from Montpelier July 10, 1165, Al'exander III ordered Clarembald to make his profession of obedience to Thomas. Intruded into the abbacy in 1163, Clarembald was finally removed by Alexander III in 1176. Confer Letter 310 in Giles' edition.
35 Arnulf, Bishop of Lisieux 1141-1181. Confer Letter 105 in Mil1or's edition.
36 Perhaps to be identified with Hervy, an envoy or Archbishop Thomas.
37 Adrian IV, Nicholas BreaKspear, the only English Pope. His mother was probably living at the house of the Breakspears in Abbot's Langley, north of Watford in Hertfordshire.
jiiAP
14
bury, and whose mother is still among you, racked with cold and
hunger. Humble, needy, and helpless as we are, can we do any-
thing, we who have only words to offer to the Romans? They
have learned long ago from their comic poet not to "pay cash for
e.xpectations."38 You write to me, if no other way is open, to
promise them as a last resort two hundred marks, but the opposi
tion will surely give three or four hundred rather than be
worsted: "nor, if with gifts you were to vie, would Iolas
yield. n39 And I will answer for the Romans, that out of' love
for my lord King and respect for his emissaries, they would
rather receive more than hope for less.4° The ract that your
plight involves the liberty of the church is a point in your
favor; but the king's defenders and your jealous rivals will
minimize the righteousness of your cause and try to make this a
question of personal arrogance rather than church freedom. To
gain credence more quickly, they will. hold out tomy lord Pope
the hope of coming to EngJ.and himself, for "my ears have alread
received the veins or this whisper";4l they will say that the
38 Terence, Adelphoi 219; translation from John Sargeaunt, in Loeb Classical Library (Terence, volume II), Wm. Heinemann, Ltd., London, 1925.
39 Virgil, Eclogues, ii, 57; translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, in Loeb Classical Library, (Virgil, volume I), Wm. Heinemann, Ltd., London, 1930.
40 That is, would rather take a large sum from the king's envoy than a small sum from us.
41 Job 4.12; the Vulgate reads "suscepit auris mea venas susurr eius," whereas John writes "venas huius susurri iam audiit auris mea."
15
coronation of the young king has been postponed that he may be
consecrated by the apostolic hand,42 and you may know how eager
the Romans are for this. As a matter or fact some people are
deriding us already, saying that my lord Pope will proceed to
the church of Canterbury to "move your candlestick"43 and hold
the see there ror a time himself. I do not believe that my lord
Pope has this in mind as yet, however, ror I hear that he is
very grateful to you 1'or your constancy. But one thing I know
beyond shadow of doubt: if the Bishop of Lisieux comes, there
is nothing he will hesitate to say; I know the fellow and have
experienced his chicanery in such matters. And who can have any
doubt about the Abbot? Just the other day the Bishop of Poitier~
wrote to me that he could accomplish nothing against this Abbot
of St. Augustine, though he had made repeated efforts. Yet, at
God's command, since you so order, I will go there and try to do
what I can. But I should not be bla~ed if it is in vain, for as
Ethicus says, "'Tis not always in a physician's power to cure
the sick; at times the disease is stronger than trained art."44
As for the rest, let your own discretion determine whether you
42 This rumor did not materialize. Young Henry was finally crowned by Robert, Archbishop of York, while Archbishop Thoma! was on the continent. Confer Cambridge Medieval History, volume V; ;;[acmillan, :New York, 1926; pp. 563.
43 Apocalypse, 2.5. 44 Ovid, Epistulae ~Ponto 1.3.17-18; translation by Arthur
Leslie Wheeler in Loeb Classical Library, (Ovid: Tristia and Ex Ponto), Wm. Heinemann, Ltd., London, 1924.
16
are dealing rightly with me. You know, if you care to remember,
that when I left you you advised me to stay at Paris, to avoid
any suspicion, to engage wholly in scholarly pursuits, and not
to go to the church of Rome. :Jore over, you did not approve of
my bringing my brother, 45 on the ground that we should have to
spend a great deal, and that he could stay more economically at
F.xeter. But when I cited in answer the objections to my brother
which Count Reginald46 had made to the Bishop of' Exeter, 47 you
approved my plan. I left, then, under instructions from you to
make Paris my headquarters, and to try in every way to adapt my
self to a scholar's life. God is my witness that when I left
you I had not twelve denarii in all the world, and there was no
one, as far as I knew, to call upon. I had, of course, a few
small pieces of luggage, familiar enough to my associates at
the hospice, and worth about five marks; and (as many know) I
was also heavily in debt, but on my own responsibility. Accord
ingly I borrowed ten marks, but before I left Canterbury I had
spent three of them for luggage and the upkeep of my retinue.
At last, from William, the son of Paine,48 I received seven
marks from your bounty, and,as you had ordered, was to receive
45 Richard, who later returned but rejoined John in July, 1166. 46 Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, natural son of Henry I; he died
in 1175. 47 Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter 1161-1184. 48 Not otherwise known, but perhaps in the service of the Arch
bishop.
17
three more; but that these have not materialized is no fault of
yours. When I came to Paris, then, according to your instruc
tions I rented a comfortable lodging temporarily, as seemed
best; but before I set foot in it I spent almost twelve pounds,
for I could only take up residence there after paying the rental
for an entire year in advance. I disposed of the horses, there
fore, and settled down to residence instead of travel. On this
account I am all the more unprepared to make the trips which you
suggest, for they cannot be made without expense, especially by
a man of ecclesiastical office and wide acquaintance. More than
this, I am enduring the wrath of the king without cause, as my
conscience is witness, and if I oppose his envoys I will endure
still more. Hence, if you please, you ought to excuse me from
doing what can be administered just as conveniently by others.
Nevertheless, as far as expenses, no matter where I incur them,
will allow, I will t'ulfill your commands; but you should realize
what it is you are com~nding. And since the present status of
the Roman church is not unknown, the most prudent plan in tem
poral matters would seem to be to concentrate attention on two
things: one, to buy yourself out of the snares of your creditor~
in any way you can; the other, to seek the king's good graces as
far as you can in accordance with God's law. God can heal the
breach, but the Roman church will give no assistance, and I am
18
afraid the French king is a "staff of a reed."49 Moreover, you
ought to be merciful, if you please, with your nephew Geoffrey;
it is high time. For since the day he entered my hospice, as
far as I have been able to observe, he has behaved himself re
spectably and has given his unflagging attention to literature.
My lord of Poitiers supported him before I came; he gave him
five marks at first, then one hundred soldi of Angers. Hence,
if you please, you ought to treat the Bishop of Poitier's
friends rather more kindly, and should not have shown any
severity, if you please, at least out of respect for the bishop,
in arranging a marriage for the daughter of William, son of
Paine. Farewell.
49 Cf. Isaias 36.6.
19
Letter 137: John to Bishop Guy de Joinville of Chalone-surMarne
My thanks to your Paternity,l who has deigned to antici
pate me by favoring me with the consolation which you have of
fered. Your generosity, indeed, has moved me to your service so
much the more, since I am receiving sure proof of your liberal
ity not only from the reports of your friend, the abbot of St.
Remy, 2 but by the very evidence of its activity. It would be
laudable in men's eyes and very meritorious in the sight of God
to welcome an approaching wanderer in compassion's embrace; but
it is far more splendid and undoubtedly more gainful to invite
an exile, particularly one banished for upholding the cause of
God and the freedom of the church, to share one's goode. \~at
answer then shall I make to my lord for this?3 But surely the
All-High will answer your charity, for He rewards not only the
works of our hands, but among His elect repays even a good in
tention with bountiful retribution. He, serenest father, will
open the eyes of His mercy upon you,4 because you have opened
your eyes on me. And as for me, I will be happy to come to you
with all possible speed, if ever by divine favor I am given the
power to gratify a wish of yours.
1 The letter is addressed to Guide III, de Joinville, Bishop of Chalone-sur-Marne, 1164-1190.
2 Peter of Celle, abbot of St. Remy, Rheims. 3 Cf. Job 31.14; 38.3. 4 Cf. Kings 4.8.29.
,.....-------------------------------------------------~
20
Letter 138: John to Bishop Milo of Terouanne-Boulogne
Trial is the test of loyalty, and a man's disposition is
best known by his deeds. It is true, indeed, that the whole
church of Canterbury, and even of England, has tried your1 loyal
ty now, and declares your charity proved in the most impartial
way; for you were the first of all to take in my lord and
father2 in his misfortune and to receive his fellow exiles like
a father, not only spreading your store before them, but divid
ing it among them at their pleasure, exceeding your means but
still falling short of the noble lavishness of your desire. Yet
even so I owe you a more particular debt of gratitude, I, whom
you received in a special way in the person of master Richard,
my kinsman,3 and to whom you opened a refuge of unstinting com
miseration. But as I cannot fittingly requite such kindness, I
pray that what you have done and are doing for him will be re-
turned to you by the Lord, Who is mighty, 4 and will return good
measure, shaken together and running over, and will pour it
into the bosoms of them that do well.5 For my part, I eagerly
consecrate to your wishes everything I can, and will thank God
1 The letter is addressed to Milo II, an Englishman, Bishop of Terrouanne-Boulogne, 1159-1169.
2 Archbishop Thomas, then in exile. 3 Son of Master Geoffrey. Cf. Letter 168. 4 Perhaps from Luke 1.49. 5 Luke 6.38. John writes, 11 mensuram bonam et coagitatam et
supereffluentem red~at et superfundat in bene facientium sirus11
he Vu gate reads, mensuram bonam, et confertamft t coagitae erfLuentem dabunt 1n sinum vestrum. loc. cit.)
....... -~--------------------------------------------------------------~
21
if in His mercy He grants that I may be of service to you in any
way.
22
Letter 139: John to Bishop Henry of Bayeux
Whether to grieve or rejoice at "this word" of you1 which
"has come from the Lord"2 is quite uncertain the more I ponder
it. Wnen I realize that your removal from us is certainly a
reward of merit, I rejoice in the divine dispensation and in
the virtues which from your early youth another patriarch
Jacob3 has sheltered as though in another Joseph. He has
strengthened them too, as they grew and burgeoned, with his
constant prayers and daily benediction, that they might know no
rlaw. But when on the other hand I am oppressed by the thought
of the once renowned church of Salisbury deprived of her sun,
and the grief-stricken clergy objecting and redoubling their
tearful plaint, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel
and the driver thereor,u4 "Why do you forsake us, or for whom
do you leave us desolate?"5--when, I say, many things are multi
plied in this strain, easier to think of than to write, I canno
hold back my tears, cannot but "mourn with them that mourn, 11 6
1 Henry, former dean of Salisbury, now promoted to the see of Bayeux, which he held 1164-1205. The fact that this letter and the following, Letter 140, are both addressed to the same Henry, added to the rather striking similarity of their construction, makes it seem likely that this letter was a rough drart of Letter 140.
2 cr. Jeremias 26.1. 3 Cf. Genesis 37. 4 Kings 4.2.12. 5 Sulpicius Severus, Epistula ad Bassulam, in l'Ugne, Patrologia
Latina, volume 20, column 182. 6 Romans 12.15.
23
and sympathize with my mother church of Salisbury in sharing
ner grief. When I think of a successor a crowd of rivals
swarms up.7 But if my mind lights on anyone who might be su-
perior to the others, he straightway seems a Phaethon usurping
hiS father's chariotS when I compare him with his predecessor.
Whose heart then is steeled enough to hold back hie tears? My
dejection at the desolation of our church would certainly
swal.low up the joy occasioned at your advancement, did not
Ethicus9 breathe in my ear that "great anguish for one's own
inconveniences is the mark of the man who loves not hie friend
but himself."1° Comforted in spirit, therefore, I submit, and
thank Him Who alone is mighty11 and to His glory has willed to
enlighten still another kingdom by your splendor. But since
you are leaving our land now, before your departure I beg you
earnestly to try "always and in all placee1112 to reproduce for
my brother and myeelrl3 the peace which you enjoy. God knows I
7 John of Oxford usurped the deanery early in 1165. 8 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses 2, 47. 9 That is, ''the moralist, r. or "the ethicist. II
10 Cicero, Laeliue (De Amicitia), 3: "suie autem incommodis graviter angi nonamicum sed ee ipeum amantis est." John omits "ipeum." Translation from w. A. Falconer, in Cicero: De Amicitia (Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1938.
11 Cf. Luke, chapter 1, verse 49. 12 Cr. ~~!Tissale Romanum, (Praefatio Communis): "semper et
u'bique. 11
13 John had left England shortly after the Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164, (cf. Letter 136). He and hie half-brother Richard were both in Henry II'e displeasure at this time, though Richard obtained the king's pardon early in 1165.
24
do not believe I have deserved this displeasure. Please make
provision then, Father, for the circumstances of your friends,
and consider the hazardous condition in which you left them.
25
Letter 140: John to Bishop Henr_x of Bayeux
It is a matter of no little rashness to strive to undo the
plans or the Lord, Whose regular disposition is a.lways ful
filled even though the express command be changed. 1 Thus
neither the bitter storms of fortune nor the flattery of the
sycor.mant makes a \\ell-ordered mind so forgetful of-itself as
to hope for prosperity except from grace, nor to fear a fal.l
unless conscious of evil deserts. ~berefore he that thinketh
himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall, 112 and let
him whom the world persecutes cry to the Lord, through Whose
mercy he is to be delivered if he "returns and cries 11 3 with
conridence; ror in as great a measure as a man despairs of
grace, just so much grace does he t'ort'eit. V:no has hoped in
the Lord, then, and been rorsaken? 4 To prove this to yourself,
you cannot read more in the books ot the Fathers than you can
see with the eye of faith in your own life. For I see this too,
when I recall that though the winds of adversity have often
swirled about you, your years of' youth and progress have pros
pered constant.Ly in the Lord. Perhaps, just as another Jacob,5
1 Ct'. Lett.ers 127 and l9l (J'Jiil.Lor's edition); John's Policrati~ 2.100.26; St. Gregory the Great, IJoralia 16.10 (Migne, Patrologia Latina volume 75, col. 1127).
2 Cf. Corinthians .L.10.12. 3 Cf'. Esdras 2.9.28. 4 Cf'. Ecclesiasticus 2 • .Ll-12; and Psalms 21.6. 5 Cf. Genesis 37.
26
holy and worthy ot such a child, your rather had a presentiment
or this in the Holy Ghost. For he embraced you beyond the
others in the growing bud of' virtues he saw in you, recognised
you as hls own Joseph, and almost to the envy of your brothers
devoted himself wholly to one whom he knew had been predestined
by God, and whom he knew would be advanced for the salvation of
others to the favor ot· princes, through prosperity and misfor
tune, "by evil report and good report."6 In behalf of' God and
church, for your rather and your brothers, you have certainly
tasted of that chalice;7 even when you felt no thirst, worm
wood and vinegar have been set before you by those who are mix
ing and offering the same chalice to me. I15ay it prove the
chalice or salvation.e You have tasted of' it, I say, and I
hope that it may hencerortn be removed, so that in answer to
your prayer you may be able to cling more closely and peace!'ul-
ly to God, if only this is best for you and !'or His church. In
asmuch as I know wel~ the pathway you trod, havine grown up
together with you long ago, I have retraced all thls rejoicing
with you in your promotion, giving all the thanks I can to God,
its author. And even though I sympathize with my own misfor
tune, or rather that of our whole church,9 and its irreparable
6 Cf. Corinthians 2.6.8. 7 Cf. John 19.28 and following. 8 Cf. Psalms 115.13. 9 That is, the Church of England, and especially of Salisbury.
27
loss, still I have learned :t'rom Ethicus that "great anguish ror
one's own inconveniences is the mark of the man who loves not
his friend but himselr." 10 But what will that church, once
tamous and celebrated beyond others, though now--I cannot say
lt without tears--lowly and abject among the daughters of
Jerusalem, 11 what will that cnurch or Sa.Lisbury do, deprived of
such a ratner? Vfuo will stretch a hand to the bishop as he
suffers shipwrec~r:?..L2 Wno will console the clerg;~l? For I seem
to hear from there the wailing of both clergy 8nd people crying
with one voice, "Vfhy do you r orsa:-:e us, ra t.t1er, or tor whom do
you .Leave us deso.Late?"1 3 How true it is tl.~at among those whom
rumor-mone:~ers would make your successor there is scarcely one
worthy to sit at your :t'ootstool. 1 4 Certainly, even if the
church had her freedom, no one at present seems suitable; no
more so than it the sun were taken :rrorn the world and some one
or the things now existing were sought to fill its place. But
even so, "God is ab.le or these stones to raise up crnldren to
Abr c; "lS TI' II 15 O ... l. . .1.-1• To return from the common bereavement to my own
case, however, I am utterly unaware of:' what my own situation
may have become after you left England. In the interim my
10 ( ) Cf. Cicero, De Amlcitia 3. Cr. Letter 139, ~ote g. 11 cr. Cnnticles2.2.7. 12 Archbl. sho1_:; Thomas. 13 Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Epistola ad l::.assulum (i.~iene, ratro
lof,ia La tine., volu'J.e 2:), column 132.) 14 Cf. Psalms 109.1; Ja~es 2.3. 15 .i..atthe¥1 3.8; Lul{e 3.9.
Jlllll""'" ------------------------------------------------~
28
hopes were nigher. Eowever, as I have often written, I do not
deny that I have ma1ntained the loya.Lty due to tne church and
t11e Archbis.rw:J o1· Cantercury; but I am prepared to show that in
conscience I have acted in no way contrary to the honor due the
King.L6 or to his interests. Or, it I have somewhere been remis
I am ready to ::.a::e condiglJ. se.tisraction to my king and .Lord as
justice dictates, if he is wi.L.Lin[. There is nothing I could
do with inte£ri ty or conscience and re~Jutct ti on to resain :ni s
peace and :t'avor, in t'e.ct, that I wi.Ll rut do glacily •.. _ay it
please your Excellency, therefore, to instruct me in this re
spect ror the honor of' God, and thrc)Ugh the Empress.L7 and whom-
ever else it seerrs convenient, to gain--without disgrace, of
course--e~uitab.Le ter~s of peace.
16 :-:enry II • .L"{ ~.~athi.Lda, the 'TIOther or Henry II. Cf'. Letter 155.
~--------------------------------------~
Letter 141: Jotm to Arcndeacon lJicholas de 3icillo or Tunt i i=i'[-d on
29
If my :nemory serves me, ti1ere v:as a class of men in the
cnurch or God under the name or archdeacons, for whom in your
good judgment1 you used to lament that every road to salvation
had been closed. For, as you were wont to say, they love gifts,
rollow after recompense, are prone to o.o harm, delicht in
calumny, eat and drin~ the sins or the people, ~md 11 11 ve 11 so r',
entirely 11 on plunder'' that ''guest is not safe trom host.".:::: The
most eminent among them spea.K of the lav; or the Lord, to be
sure, but do not fulrill it. These tnings and the like yo~
have been devout a:~1d sympathetic eno·ugh repeatedly to deplore
as characteristic o!· that wretched condition or society. .Jut
now go'Jd men and your friends owe a debt of' thanl:s to G.od and
to T~' lord of Lincoln, 3 who has opened your eyes and shown you
a way wnereby this class or men ma; ~ct~ally attain salvation
1 ~~icilolas de Sigillo, who was advanced to the archdeaconry or Huntingdon in or shortly before ll_65. "This, 11 says .Jillor in his edition ;:,i· John's corres~:;~ondence, "is probably the most ce.Lebrated or John's letters, and it is amusing to learn that it is sometimes referred to by writers as a serious agitation or a philosophical question." On the popularity of archde~cons at tnis time, or the pronounced absence of it, confer i\o~ertson, .uec~~et ~.~aterials, volu:ne 4, ;:::;.95-96; John's Polycraticus (Web~'s edition) boo~ 1, p:·.353-354; &nd Letters 18, 23, 52, b3, b4, 116 of .~illor's edition.
2 Ovic., •. :eta:-;>Jrpnose s 1 .144; transla ti 011 ac.apted from that of :?r&cllr Just:Js -=iller, in Loeb Cl&..ssical Library (Ovi_£: ~.letar~orplloses, .20)~: ,1); LoncL)i1, '.'.';~ .. =~eine:-r:an11, 1936.
3 Rocert de Chesnesy, -ishop of Llncoln in ll4S-ll68.
30
and y;ln the "polished crorm 114 of the elect. And not t.his alone,
:::ut one v.·hereby t:1ey :~ay even acc,uire that h1gher golden crJvm
which ~ar~:s trwse wno sclntillate in the :cnLustry of preachinc;,
just as lt does taose crowned with the sartyr's laurel or
verc~e.nt V.'i tr: tl1e fre S~'lne s s of virt,ini ty. Sure ljr 11 tlli s is t~1e
Tor''' 1 "' dO;'"C' tt5 \~Ol'l'-•S (Y'ened t:.-le e•:oc or \TQilr .1 )l~;lr''noc.c ,"-:l'lQ J-J• _.._ ,_. ..I.J..J.t_;) l'tll ..,r..,..;. ' ... .. ~- .J"-'l-' ,.J '-"\. !- ........... .....,....,.....,, -
ty 1ay1nc; tJare tl'1e trutn in tl'le L"-atter o! arci1deacoHs, has ::J.ade
;;<lu cl1ane;e th&t peLliclous opinLm or yours. 3ut thoue,h arch-
~e8cons have good rea~on to rejoice nJw that theJ have ~on par-
less happiness at your nromotion than they have; ror wnerever I
rJay be J:: aE devoted Viholeheartc,dly and eo.gt:rlj· to ~rour honor &nd
would. be a really ere c. t pri vile be, slJ.oulG. you wi s:C. to e1ljJL1 on
rre nn:,rthlng in ElY ~)Oi''er, to test my at'fecti::ln f.Jr yo;_t in any
J:' this letter has i~eel1 lone_; in the service or D.~rselt' &nci uy
trJther, 6 and has been f::lund entirely loyal; he is skilled in
writins, ~oreover, and has had experience in ~~ny useful brts.
If 0.1. t ot 107e !' ·Jr me y·:u sl1ould }')lease to kee:; hL·~ in your own
servlce a;.1d av:. i1 yourself :)1 h.:.s, I wou1c~ be ere:: t.Ly o~-:lic:.~ec.,
~·or at )resent I CE,''lrDt :;rovice :tor hir" &s I would v:J..sh. I a:.:.
4 Cr. E~odus 25.25. 5 Cr. Psalns 111.23; ~."att~-::ev. 21.;+2; ~,ar.: 12.11. E. ,:,j_c.iarc.. c.c·. Letter 1;>6' i"'.Ote 47.--
~------------------------------~ 31
c~n~ident, however, that hls dilizent w~r~ in y~ur ei9loy will
r;,e r1 t tl::.e rev;urc_ ~:t' need in[ her.:.cef' ~rL: :-:either m~' JVm nor e::n~r-
o:r"e c lse' s recommendation.
32
Letter 142: Jol1n 3arrazin tJ Jol-,::l of Sallstury
Having had occasion to observe that your wise and tranquil
turn of mind finds pleasure in the books of the BLessed
Dionyeius, 1 I 2 have dedicated to you a translation of hie book
on the Angelic Hierarchy. At the first, however, I must admit
that I have been unable to express in the Latin tongue the
exact and polished style of eo deeply learned and eloquent a
man. The reason is that in Greek one f'inde certain compound
words which signify a thing neatly and exactly, whereas in
Latin these same things are designated by two or three words
ineLegantly, inaccurately, and sometimes insufficiently. More
over, one finds connectives in Greek to give just the proper
emphasis to a person or to something else, and by these same
connectives much of one's thought can be woven together sue-
ceeeively in a very finished manner. I say nothing of their
happy constructions of participle and or articular infinitive;
such precise and polished expression cannot be found in Latin.
It also happens that, if words are translated in the order of
their occurrence, they are either difficult to understand or
seem to have a different meaning. On this account, I have pre-
1 Dionysius the pseudo-Areopagite. The work mentioned is his Celestial Hierarchy.
2 John sarrazin, said to have been a monk or St. Denys, Paris; he was afterwards Abbot of Vercelli, and was one of the few men in Western Europe at this time who knew Greek. cr. Letters 203,219,232,233 {Millor's edition).
Jll"""" --------------------------------------------------------------------~
33
served the word order where I have thought it suitable, but in
other places have changed it for an order more easily under
stood; and where !'or Greek words I could not discover Latin
synonyms I have either twisted the Greek expression or have
indica ted the author's meaning as fully and as wel.L as I could
by several words in Latin. Often, too, where I have set down
two or three Latin words for one in Greek, I have joined them
as one, not because I wanted to make a single word out of them,
but to make the treatise more clearly understood, and to show
how much elegance it loses through the paucity of Latin
vocabulary. The book is very helpful for an understanding of
all the Sacred Scriptures which concern the actions or words of
angels; for it includes all divine spirits in three hierarchies,
dividing each hierarchy into three orders and discussing each of
these in an exalted vein. It advances certain questions about
angels and answers them, and at the end offers explanations of
the figures ascribed to angels in Holy Scripture. Your good
judgment will prompt you, I imagine, to compare this tra.nsla
tion of mine with that of John Scotus.3 If, then, I seem to
have made perhaps a more apt translation than he, you will 1'ind
me ready, at your request, to translate the book on the Ecclesi
astical Hierarchy4 as well.
3 John the Scot (Erigena). Cf. Migne, Patrologia Latina, volume 122, columns 1023 and the following.
4 Another work of Dionysius, the pseudo-Areopagite.
34
Letter 143: John to Count Henry of Champagne
To the most serene Lord Henry, renowned and illustrious
count Palatine of Trois, John, deacon of the church of Salisbury
sends greeting and hopes for the continual happy fulfillment of
his prayers.
The fact that, though outlawed and in exile, I address a
person of such dignity, and that I dare even for a moment,
particularly with my rude pen and lifeless diction, to recall to
the exercises of the philosophers a man who is concentrating on
the public weal, might easily be ascribed to rashness. But my
small pretensions find encouragement by realising your own emi
nent goodness of heart and by remembering that I was almost more
constrained than invited to write, through the influence wielded
by your command, 1 which I am anxious to obey with whole heart
and ready will in everything possible in the Lord. I admit, in
deed, that I am as much indebted to you as I am certain--which
many others are, too--that I added to many of my possessions in
your domain, and that under your saintly father, 2 whose "memory
is in benediction"3 because "all the church of saints declares
1 The request had been submitted to him first through his old teacher, Alberic of Rheims, and then through abbot Peter of Celle. see below, at the end of this paragraph.
2 Count Theobald IV of Blois, Champagne, and Troyes; brother of King Stephen of England and of Bishop Henry of Winchester.
3 Ecclesiasticus 45.1; 46.14.
35
hiS alms" 4 and praises his many virtues, I prospered under his
protection more than all my contemporaries in France, though I
was still a stripling.5 And with the guidance of grace, without
which there can be no advance in goodness, I achieved a position
whence straightway, after God, stemmed the acquaintance with
both the good men and good fortune of the world which I have
enjoyed in plenty in my own land, beyond and contrary to my
deserts, and more than men of the same age and country. This
is common knowledge. I would easily have persuaded myself too,
since it is credible as the reward of so deserving a father,
that he would leave an heir who in pursuit of virtue and in
magnificence of deed would exceed even himse.lf, perfect though
he be. But why do I say an heir has been left, when all the
children who survive are such that any one of them seems not so
much to mirror the integrity of a faultless departed count as t
be like to a very king in his own right? The reason is this:
according to the decree of the Most High, a "double portion"6
resides in the first born, and he who has preceded his brothers
in time has a twofold precedence, both in abundance of
in radiant and peerless virtues. Among these last, two outshin
4 Ecclesiasticus 21.11. 5 John had studied in France, at Paris and Chartres, from 1136
to about 1148. It was probably through Peter of Celle, who may have been tutored by John, that John became acquainted with Count Theobald, whose patronage he afterwards enjoyed.
6 C:f:'. Deuteronomy 21.17.
the others, namely an outstanding generosity which all the
world proclaims, and a surpassing humility which, for recreation
in the straitened circumstances of my exile, I am happy to put
to the test by the questions you have proposed about Sacred
Literature. When, along with several other learned men, Alberic
of Rheims, surnamed nfrom venus' Gate,n commonly called
Valesia,7proposed these questions in your name, to tell the
truth, my lord, I was dumbfounded. I could not believe his re
quest until he brought in a man venerable and deeply devoted to
you--the abbot of st. Remy8--who propounded the same questions,
and with unflagging entreaties begged me to answer them out of
love for you and for himself. He claimed for certain that you
find nothing in life more agreeable than to converse with
learned men on learned topics. He adaed in a confidential
whisper that very often you incur the displeasure of the unlet
tered crowd because they cannot call youaway from scholarly
pursuits and plunge you into the squalls and uproar of business
as they would wish; for such men consider foolishly wasted,
every moment not spent in the petty affairs of the curia, the
whirl of bustling soldiery, or the windy gusts of the lawcourts.
They do not know that ph~losophy rests satisfied with only a
'7 John's teacher at Paris in 1137, after Abelard had stopped lecturing. Cf. John's Metalogicon 2.10.
8 Peter of Celle, at that time abbot of St. Remy, Rheims. Cf. Letter 152.
37
few to appreciate her, and does not stoop to entrust the in
tegrity of her office to the judgment of the mob. I was exceed
ingly pleased, therefore, to receive the proposed questions for
your sake, and, taking my opportunities and unavoidable exigen
cies into account, to reply as well as time will allow, though
certainly not as fully as I would wish.
You have asked what I believe to be the number of books in
the Old and New Testament, and who their authors are; what
Jerome, in his letter to Paulinus the presbyter9 about all the
books or Scripture, calls the "table or the Sun1110 seen in the
sand by the philosopher Apollonius11 when he was pursuing the
study of literature; next, what it is that in the same letter he
calls the Virgilian and the Homeric Patchworks; 12 and. lastly,
what is the source, and what the meaning, of a statement picked
up and appropriated by many, that "the things which do not
exist are more like to God than the things which do exist.ul3
Your request included this too, that I explain all these things
carefully and quickly, supporting my statements by the main ar
guments in their favor and by the testimony of authorities--all
9 Cf. St. Jerome, Epistola ad Paulinum, (Letter 53, chapter 11); in Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 22, col. 541.
10 Cf. below, Note 60. 11 cr. below, Note 60. 12 Poems composed of Homeric lines or phrases, and likewise with
Virgil. Confer Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll-::;ri ttelhaus, Real-Encyclopaedie under Cento.
13 John Scot~s Eri~ena ~n th~ Pr¥ ace to histeditLon of the !8kt~ £ltrft~ P~~lf~oiE~on~~1~s1~ Areopag~ e. Mlgne, Patro-
38
this in a paper to be forwarded to you at the earliest oppor-
tunity.
Now your practical wisdom, whose keen insight, prompt elo-
quence on every occasion, and vast and retentive memory our age
admires and venerates, will readily perceive how difficult, or
rather impossible, a task this is. For, as Apuleius says in
his book "On the God o!· Socrates, "14 no one is ever praised at
the same time for both dispatch and painstaking; and more than
that, no amount of' care can ever squeeze the bulky contents of
important books into one paper. Cassiodorus, for example, has
written a t·ine book on only the f'irst two of your questions, the
number of books, that is, and their authors. 15 But I am not
sure to which side to incline in this question, and do not think
it very important what one holds, since no danger to salvation
is entailed here, whether one believes one way or the other. To
wrangle fiercely over a thing which is neither help nor hin
drance, or which is of little moment in either case--is that not
the same as if friends were to fight savagely over goat's
wool? 16 Accordingly, I think that if a man obstinately affirms
something which is not agreed upon, he attacks faith more than
14 The passage referred to is in the prologue of Apuleius, chapter 3.
15 cr. ~U~ne, P.L., vol. 70, coll. 1105-1150; the work bears the title De Institutione Divinarum Litterarum. 11
16 That is-,-non-existent trifles. Cf. Horace, Epistles 1.18.15: "Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina, Propugnat nugis armatus •.• 11
39
if he were to refrain from rash definitions and leave, as unde-
termined, matters which cannot be fully investigated and over
which he sees the Fathers themselves dissent. One's opinion,
nevertheless, can and should incline to one view, so as to ac-
cept more readily what seems likely to everyone, to many, to
the best known and eminent authorities, or to any one approved
writer according to his own capability, 17 unless a certain or
more probable reason, in matters that are subject to reason, in
dicates that the opposite view is true. I have inserted "sub
ject to reason" because of those matters which entirely tran
scend all reason, and in which the Church has chosen to be
foolish, that by her untaught faith she may grasp "Christ, the
power of God and the wisdom of God, 1118 rather than be deprived I
of wisdom and virtue along with the gentile philosophers who,
"professing themselves to be wise, became fools, 1119 and decayed
in their thinking to be "delivered up to a reprobate sense" 20
by arrogantly professing to know the wisdom of God. Inasmuch,
therefore, as I have read many different opinions of the Fathers
on the number of books of Scripture, I personally follow
Jerome, 21 a doctor of the universal church whom I consider fin-
17 Cf. Aristotle, To~ics chapter 10. 18 Corinthians 1.1.2 • 19 Romans 1.22. 20 Romans 1. 28. 21 That is, his Praefatio in libros Samuel et n1Ia1achim, in
Migne, P.L. vo1. 28, coT: 547.
40
est in working out the argument from the letters of the alpha-
bet. With him, I am firmly persuaded that, just as there are
admittedly twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, so there
are twenty-two books in the Old Testament, and these in three
distinct series. The first series contains the Pentateuch,
namely the five books of Hoses, divided according to the dif
ferent sacraments, 22 even though it be agreed that the matter is
continuous from a historical standpoint. These books are
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The
second series, containing the prophecies, consists of eight
books. Why these should be called prophecies rather than the
rest, whereas some of them relate bare history; and why others
that include a prophecy, such as Daniel and the Book of Psalms,
are not considered among the prophetic worlts, was not asked in
you question, nor does the lack of time and paper permit me to
explain--nor, in particular, does the insistence of the bearer.
Josue and the Book of Judges, to which Ruth is added, are num
bered among these books because in the daye of the Judges a
factual history is narrated; Samuel too, which is included in
the first two books of Kings, and Malachim, in the two others;
and following these each in one volume are Isaias, Jeremias,
22 Perhaps in reference to the five Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church which all the faithful receive, or can receive; namely, Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Holy Eucharis and Extreme Unction.
41
Ezechiel, and the book of the twelve prophets. 23 The third
series consists of the hagiographers, comprising the Psaltery,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Daniel,
Paralipomenon, Esdras, and Esther. Thus the total number of
books of the Old Testament is twenty-two, though so~e think the
book of Ruth and the Lamentations of Jeremias should be added
to the Hagiographers, which would swell the grand total to
twenty-four. As a matter of fact, all this is found in the
prologue to the books of Kings, which St. Jerome calls the
"helmeted beginning" of all the Scriptures which reached the
Latin understanding from their Hebrew s0urces through his
agency. 24 The Book of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Judith, TObias,
and Pastor, however, as the same Father asserts, are not reck-
oned in the canon; neither is the Book of Machabees, which is
divided into two volumes, the first of which smacks of the
Hebrew idio~, and the other of the Greek, an observation which
is demonstrated by the style itself. I do not know whether the
book entitled "Pastor" exists anywhere, but it is certain that
Jerome and Bede25 attest to having seen and read it. To these
books are added eight volumes of the New Testament, namely the
23 That is, the twelve shorter prophecies: Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, .Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, and :Malachias.
24 Migne, P.L. vol. 28, col. 555. 25 Cf. De Sex Aetatibus I~·Iundi lines 4090-4112; in Migne, P.L.
vol. 93·
42
Gospel of i,[atthew, I':1ark, Luke, and John, and the fifteen
epistles of Paul in one volume, though the common and almost
universal opinion is that there are only fourteen, ten to
churches and four to individuals. There are fifteen, however,
if the Epistle to the Hebrews is to be enumerated among those
of Paul, which is where the doctor of doctors, Jerome, seems to
place it in his preface, refuting the arguments of those who
hold that it is not from Paul's hand. The fifteenth, finally,
is the epistle written to the Laodiceans; and, as Jerome says,
even though it be rejected by everyone, nevertheless it has been
written by the Apostle. This opinion is not borrowed from
others, but is corroborated by the testimony of the Apostle
himself; for in his epistle to the Colossians he mentions the
letter in these words, "When this epistle shall have been read
in your assembly, cause that it be read also in the church of
the Laodiceans, and that you read that which is of the Lao
diceans."26 The seven canonical epistles follow in one volume,
then the Acts of the Apostles, and finally the Apocalypse. It
is the honored and undoubted tradition of the Church, then, that
this is the number of books which are admitted in the canon of
the Sacred scriptures; and its authority is so powerful in all
quarters, that to sound minds no room is left for contradiction
or for doubt that these scriptures have been written by the
26 Colossians 4.16.
43
finger of God. A person is rightly and deeervedl.y condemned as
a reprobate, therefore, if in verbal and social intercourse,
and especially in the !'orum of the faithful, he does not admit
publicly and without reserve "the eilver11 or this divine word,
which has been "tried by the firett of the Holy Ghost, "purgedtt
from al.l earthly dross, 11and refined seven times" from etain. 27
Faith may rest eecurel.y in these, then, as well as in other
writings which have a proven and suitable basis in them, for
only an infidel or heretic woul.d dare argue against them.
Opinions vary as to the authors of the books, although the pre
vailing one in the Church holds that each book has been written
throughout by the person mentioned in the title. BOrrowing
from Jerome, Isidore, in the sixth book of hie Etymologies,
chapter Second, 28 usee the letters of the alphabet to explain
the system of titles and authors of the books. Rhabanue too,
in his book 11 0n Ecclesiastical Offices,"29 wnich some call "On
the Sacraments," and Cassiodorus in hie work "On the Arrangement
of the Sacred Scriptures, n30 pursue the arguments bearing on
this point in greater detail. cassiodorus, ror one, not only
discusses the canonical Scriptures and the authors of the works,
but true to form in hie eloquent way discourses on their com-
27 Cf. Psal.me 11.7. 28 Etymologies, l\1igne, P.L. vol. 82, col. 230. 29 Higne, P. L. vol. 107, col. 365; and vol. 1.12, col. 1193. 30 cr. above, note 15.
mentators. Each of the Fathers, moreover, when intending to ex
plain some book in his tracts, usually, as reason would require,
treats first of the author and his subject, the intention, cause,
and title of the book, and whatever else may make for an easier
understanding for hearers and readers of the work which follows.
They do this with due regard for time and place, and for those to
whom their treatise is directed, so that they may dispense in
season a measure of saving food to the body of the evangelical
institution of the family of God;31 for, as Palladius says, a
great part of prudence lies in gauging beforehand, in the light
of reason, the personality of the man to whom one is writing.32
For this reason, I myself deliberately refrain from copying out
the common opinion, and turn now to other matters, unless perhaps
it is Your Excellency's will that I also describe this 1n greater
detail. Meanwhile, however, Your Excellency may be certain that
Philo, whom Jerome recalls in the tenth chapter of his book non
Famous Men, "33 disagrees with the others, in a book entitled "Why
the Names of Some Persons in Scripture have been Changed."34
31 Cf. Matthew 24.45; Luke 12.42. 32 A disciple {368 ? -~A.D.) of Evagriue of Pontus, ordained
to the See of Helenopolis by St. John Chrysostom. Cf. Proemium ad Historiam Lausiacam, and Epistola !a Lausiam, Migne, P•1• vol. 34, col. 995-1006.
33 Cf. Jerome, ~ g1ris Illustribus chapter 11; in Migne, f.L. vol. 23, coli. 25 and following.
34 Migne, i•1• vol. 23, col. 627.
45
Theophilus of Alexandria follows him in his "Chronieles,"35 as
does Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia of Cyprus, in his book "or
Famous Men, n36 a fact .attested by Theodorus, 37 who translated
their works from the Greek into cultured Latin prose. He says
that both Gamaliel,38 at whose feet the Apostle rejoiced to have
learned the law, and the public declaration of the Hebrews, who
are very accurate Judges of the letter of the law, agree in the
opinion of Philo. But, not to dilate when I should be hurrying
on to other things, let me give you the opinion or these men too.
It is this: Moses wrote the Pentateuch, though they do not agree
about the end or Deuteronomy, where his death is described.39
Some assert that even this detail was written in by Moses himself
with prophetic certitude, just as were the details he prefaced at
the beginning regarding the creation of the worid and the things
he prophesied in his blessings on the patriarchs; 40 others say
that this particular was added by Josue, and others, by Esdras.
Josue (they say) wrote the book which is named from him, but
Samuel wrote Sophthim, that is, the Book of Judges, as well as
the Book of Ruth and the part of the Book of Kings which bears
35 The works of Theo~hilus are in Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 65; the "Chronica does not seem to be extant.
36 Cf. Migne, P.Q. vole. 41, 43 for his works; the "de Viris Illustribus~ does not seem to be extant.
37 An otherwise unknown translator. 38 Cf. Acts 22.3. 39 cr. i58Uteronomy 34.5. 40 Cf. Deuteronomy 33.1 and following.
hie name. David composed the rest, except lastly for Malachim,
that is, the second two books of Kings; this was written by
Jeremias and published by him together with hie Lamentations.
None of this is contradicted by the common opinion. Ezechias
and the learned men whom he gathered about him in a school of
virtue and culture during the fifteen years God prolonged his
life, 41 was free to give his time to sacred studies, and collect
ed the prophecies ot Isaias in one volume. It appears from his
language that the prophet declaimed these in public instead of
writing them down, a view which is not at variance with the fact
that he was commanded to "write in a great book with a man's
pen"; 42 for that book was already written and great. Nor, so
they say, do the prophecies taken up by his listeners and ar
ranged by the above-mentioned king pertain to this col~ection of
his own prophecies. The same men also compiled the Proverbs,
previously uttered by Solomon and made common knowledge in the
same way, as happens, by those who heard them. For this reason,
(they say) the proverbs of Solomon are also included among these
same Proverbs, translated by the servants or Ezechias, king of
Juda. These men are said to have ••translated" them, because they
transferred them with public authority from one place to another,
eo to speak--from common usage and perhaps from the private paper
Cf. Kin~s 4.20.1; Paralipomenon 2.32.24. Isaias .1.
47
of individuals, into the canon of the Scriptures. This tradition
draws further support from what is written in the Third Book of
Kings: "Solomon spoke 3,000 parables, and his poems were one
thousand and five and he discoursed from the cedar of Libanus
unto the hyssop," etc.; 43 whence it is concluded that he spoke all
this rather than wrote it. Some connect his poems with the Can
ticle of Canticles, a discourse on natural things proceeding from
the greatest to the least, as a foretoken of the things Ecclesi
astes preaches for all the world to hear. But we can treat or
this at another time. The king or Jerusalem, Ezechias, and his
fellow-scholars, are said to have added Ecclesiastes and the Can
ticle of canticles to the canon of the Scriptures, although they
claim that Solomon is the author, and consider him the original
composer and a sort or herald or their value for the public. This
however, is at odds with the common opinion; but whether it is con
trary to the truth, let him who knows tell us. Aggeus, Zacharias,
and Malachias, aided by tifteen of the most trustworthy men of the
synagogue, compiled the prophecies of Ezecniel. For though
Ezechiel himself publicized and fixed in the memory of his hearers
the visions he did not want to write in an unholy country, lest he
profane sacred things, still ne directed that they be written in
the land of the Lord. The psalm alludes to this suspension, say-
43 Kings 3.5.32.
48
ing: "On the willow in the midst thereof we hung up our instru-
" d 44 mente, an so on. The common opinion, moreover, as Isidore at-
tests,45 agrees with this. The same prophets wrote the BOok or
Daniel, for Daniel too refrained from any writing, both for the
reason advanced in the ease of Ezechiel, and because he was im-
peded by his administration of public affairs. The same three
prophets and their fellow scholars also wrote the Book of Esther,
which common opinion holds was written b y Esdras; and the book of
the twelve prophets themselves. The above-mentioned Philo, then,
with his followers already named, acclaim these tnree prophets as
the authors or this last book and or the preceding ones, as I have
said. The reason given is tn.a.t, since the visions or the twelve
(prophets) were brief, each prophet thought it sufficient. to pub
licize them by word of mouth, and thus to entrust them to other
writers, especially since some of tne twelve were rustics of
shepherds, or devoted to other duties, and are believed to have
been illiterate. David composed the Book or Psalms, employing
!rom time to time the services of men acknowledged in some or the
titles. Although these men, ten or them, composed some ot the
psalms, which is not gainsaid by the common opinion recorded by
IS1dore,46 nevertheless all the psalms are said to be David's
since he lent them his authority according to what Justinian
44 Psalms 136.2. 45 cr. Migne, ~·1· vol. 82, 232. 46 Cf. Mi ne
49
teacnes in the Code, "We right.ly make ours a.Ll things to wnich we
impart our authority, since a.l.L authority is imparted to them by
S u47 u • Certain~y he wno amends a work that is shoddily done is
more to be praised than the man who rirst composed it. Esdras
wrote the book which bears hie name, and also Paralipomenon, up
to his day; the rest of it was written by very wise and reliable
men of the synagogue whose members rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem
According to these men, Moses wrote the Book of Job, a question
about which common opinion ventures no commitment, though it is
more inclined to the view that blessed Job himself wrote his own
book, after he had overcome the temptations to which he had been
subjected. Common opinion, moreover, does not indicate what
authors wrote Tobias, Judith, and the Book of Macchabees, which
are not admitted in the canon, nor do the followers of Philo make
any mention of these; the books have been piously admitted, how
ever, for their edification in matters of faith and devotion.
Philo composed the Book of Wisdom, and is called the Pseudographus
not because he was a poor scribe, but a poor inscriber. The book
is actually entitled "The Wisdom of Solomon," although Solomon did
not publish it; it is called Solomon's rather for the style in
Which Philo clothed it, and the finely cultured usages in which
he fashions his work after Solomon. Jesus, the son of Sirach,
wrote the book of Ecclesiasticus, a book which itself is called
47 Cf. the Code or Justinian.
I'"'
50
solomon's because of similarity of style and expression. In the
same way, conversely, the Latins commonly say that there are some
things in the Book of Wisdom which clearly are found not there,
but in the Book of Proverbs. Hence in the church the section of
the Proverbs which begins, "Who shall :find a valiant woman? 11 48
bears the title ttWisdom.u
So much for the number and authors of the books of' the Old
Testament, wherein the above-mentioned writers differ to some ex
tent with the common opinion. The number of books in the New
Testament and their authors are certain; there is practically no
question about either. Each evangelist, naturally, published his
own volume; Paul composed his own epistles, even though some sus-
pect that the one addressed to the Hebrews was by Barnabas or
Clement.49 The canonical epistles were written by those whose
names are in their titles, although there is some question about
the last two epistles or John.50 As to the Acts of the Apostles,
it is clear from their faithful, vigorous, wholesome style that
they were set down by Luke. Some think the Apocalypse was com
posed by John the Apostle; others, as st. Jerome, the father of
letters, reports,51 think that it was composed by a very holy
48 Proverbs 31.10 49 Cf. Jerome, De Viris
vol. 23, col:-669. Illuetribue chapter 59; in Migne, l·b·
50 cr. Jerome, De Virie IJ.lustribus chapter 59; in Migne, f.L. vol. 23, col. o23.
51 Cf. Migne, f.L. vol. 23, col. 637.
51
priest, JOhn of Ephesus. As far as the belief of the church is
concerned, however, the Apostle is preferred. This, then, is what
has been said from time to time about the number and authors of
the books of the New Testament. If one wishes to know the origin
of these arguments, he should read the letter of St. Jerome to
paulinus on the sacred books, for, by my conscience, nothing bet
ter or clearer can be found.52
But what need is there, Serenest Lord, to examine these and
other opinions, and to investigate authors, when it is agreed that
there is one Author of all the Sacred Scriptures: the Holy
Ghost? For in his "Moraliau~3 st. Gregory very tru.ly and force
fully teaches that, since it is clear that the Holy Ghost is the
author or the Book of St. Job, which he was explaining, then to
inquire afterwards about the man who wrote the book puts one in
the same position as if, when the writer of a book is certain, he
were to wonder about the pen with which it was written. The im
portant thing, therefore, is not whether the true writers of the
scriptures are known, but whether the Scriptures themselves are
tru.ly understood; and even more, whether they are devoutly and
raithfully carried out. 11 For not the hearers of the law are just
before God," as the Apostle says, "but the doere.tt54 To this end
it is beet to engage oneself in the study of Scripture, for, as
52 Cf. above, NOte 9. 53 Cf. Migne, P•1• vol. 75, col. 517.
4 Romans 2.13; cr. James 1.22.
52
Truth itself says through its most trustworthy instrument, "Love
the knowledge of the Scriptures, and you will not love the fail
ings of the flesh,"55 especially in the face of the fact that
"Leisure without study is death; it is a tomb for the living
man. tt56
I come now to the third question: "What is that "table of
the SUn 11 in the sand, so famous among the gymnosophists, and seen
there by Apollonius,57 an investigator of truth and eager devotee
or learning? On this matter, I have consulted everyone in France
who seems eminent in Scriptural studies; but since the history of
the gentiles has been a closed book to them, I cannot much blame
them if they could not teach what they had not learned. Some of
them, however, revealed their ignorance quite shamelessly, and
convinced one by their inadequate replies only of this, that they
had learned nothing from the doctors they had hired for long
periods and at high fees. This story, however, which Jerome, rich
in truth and learning, touches upon Ln the letter mentioned
above,58 is found in Valerius Maximus, book iii, chapter 1, under
the title 11 Moderation."59 A man, so Valerius says, happened to
55 Jerome, epistle 125, chapter 11; in Migne, ~·b· vol. 22, col. 107tl. Translation from F. A. Wright: Select Letters~ St. Jerome; Loeb Classical Library, London, wm. Heinemann, 1933.
56 Seneca, Epistulae Morales 82.3; translation from Richard M. Gummere, in Seneca: Epistulae Morales (3 vole.) Volume II, ~ Classical Library, London, Wm. Heinemann, 1930.
57 Cf. below, Note 60. 58 Cf. above, Note 9·
rum et Dictorum Memorabilium" 4.1.
,.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------,
53
buy beforehand the catch or some dragnet-fishermen in the region
o:t' Mlletus. But as a Delphic tabl.e or gold, or great price, was
drawn forth with the catch a dispute arose, the fishermen affirm
ing that they had sold only the catch of rish, whereas the buyer
said that he had bought the proceeds ot· the catch outright. When
the people or the city heard the suit, they decided because of
the novelty and importance or the matter to refer it to a consul
tation with the Delphic Apoll.o. When he was consulted, he an
swered that the table should be given to the man who excelled all
others in wisdom, and that it would prove baneful and injurious
to anyone else who accepted. Accordingly, since in the judgment
or the listeners Thales or Miletus was considered the wisest of
the seven whom Greece honored particularly at that time, they in
rormed him that he could take possession or the aforesaid table.
But when he learned or the consultation and the reply or Apoll.o,
he said, with prudent humility, that the man singled out by the
oracl.e was not himself, but Bias of Priene. Bias was also ap
proached, Just as Thales had been, and in the same way he passed
the condition on to Pittacus or Mitylene. Now all this while the
tabl.e was lying in the sand. Because or the novelty of the affair
and the restraint or· the wise men, and because none of the people
dared to fall upon gold which the sages were so industriously
avoiding, the rumor which heralds such things spread far and wide
the word or an occurrence which was even more perplexing than
Ill"'
54
marvellous. The table thererore became extremely ramous, whiJ.e
the orfer of it was passing down the line from one wise man to
another, until it came the turn of Solon. At long last, he con
rerred both the title or all-embracing wisdom and tne gl!'t Olfered
on Apollo, since in his person the sun is worshipped, which sees
all things and so pervades tne universe with its riery essence
that nothing can be hidden from it. It is r·or this reason that
tne table in the sand which Apollonius examined while he was pur
suing the study of .Literature is called tne Table or the sun.
Two of the five questions proposed still remain to be ex
plained, but there is neither occasion nor leisure to answer them.
If your Excellency thinks best, of course, I will be happy to at
tempt them, and will count it my good rortune it heaven grants me
the opportunity to serve your Honor's wishes in any way. "The
peasant .Loves the rarmer; the soldier, nim who wages war; the
sailor loves the pilot of the swaying ship"; 00 and shall not pro-
ressors of learning love a prince who studies philosophy and who
welcomes and fosters the true pursuits of the learned? I do not
deny that an unlettered prince can now and then help the common
wealth, but if ~e attempts properly to attain an equal footing
with men of learning, he will rarely or never climb the heights.
For, as our Vegetius says, "No one should know more or better than
60 Ovid, Ex Ponto 5.61; translation from A. L. Wheeler, Ovid: Tristia and Ex Ponto, Loeb Classical Library, London, Wm. Heinemanns 1924.
~---------------------------------------------.
55
a prince, whose knowledge can benefit all hie subjects.n61
I doubt not that different people will have different opinion
. about the things written here, but I shall have attained my end
if you find this letter pleasing; for, just as there is no reason
ror it to please by its own grace, so there is no reason why it
should displease, considering the writer's devotion. Nor do I
rear the judgment of those who rorm rash decisions before they hea
a thing through, for I recall that the Scripture says, uHe that
answereth before he heareth sheweth himself to be a fool, and
worthy of confusion."62 You also know, surely, the kind of men to
whom Solomon's proverb applies, asserting that "a fool receiveth
not the words of prudence, un~ess thou say those things which are
in his heart. n63 But I will not believe that my devoted meanness
is not despised, most distinguished Count, until Your Eminence-
may the Almighty bless and conserve you ror long years to come-
will deign to enjoin upon me some one of the things within my
powers. you will find me prompt to obey your commands faithfully
in every respect. May your august fame fare ever well, illus
trious one; may it flourisn, and, to the envy of all your enemies,
prosper continually in the Lord.
61 Vegetius Renatus, De Re Militari, 1. 62 Proverbs 18.13. 63 Proverbs 18.2.
56
Letter 144: John to Archbishop Thomas Becket
From the account given by the bearer of this letter, and from
the letters my friends have sent me from England, you will be able
to know the condition of the Church in the kingdom. I am also
sending you a letter which the Bishop of Bayeux1 forwarded to me
by a messenger I had dispatched to him to Learn my brother's2 con
dition and the state of our affaire, for the king had turned over
to the Bishop our revenues from the bishopric of' Salisbury. Our
revenues from the other churches he committed partly to the Bishop
of London3 and partly to others; these men, what is more, are
proving so occupied that my brother and I can get nothing from
these sources, nor can anyone else in our name. Men returning
from that part of the country report, moreover, that our property
is falling to pieces, and that neither church nor home is in re-
pair. I wrote to the Bishop of London himself concerning this, an
to the bishops of Hereford, 4 Worcester,5 and Chichester,6 and to
the archdeacon of Poitiers.7 The Bishop of Chichester lamented
his rall from the king's f'avor, and added the rema·rk that "only
Bishop of London is called by his own name. u None of the others
1 Henry, Bishop of Bayeux 1164-1205. 2 John's brother Richard, who, like John himself, held an Exeter
canonry. · 3 Gilbert Fo11ot, bishop of London 1163-1188. 4 Robert Melun, bishop of Hereford 1163-1167. 5 Roger Fitz, Count bishop or Worcester 1164-1179· 6 Hllary, bishop of Chichester Ll47-ll69. 7 R c
th
,... ~------------------------------------------------------------------~
57
replied. Still I expect that they will send at least some word to
me, their old rriend, when my messenger returns. I have not heard
anything from Kent, either, although I did hear, after my servant
came back from you, that the Scottish king had written to you, and
that he had effected your peace with the king. But I could hardly
believe this report, both because I hear that the Scottish king8
has not approached our own, and because the affair seems to have
had such a violent beginning that only a miracle could further it
by letter. They say, too, that the Count or Flanders,9 working
ror your reconciliation at the request of the empresslO and the
queen, 11 has sent influential representatives to the king, and
that these have returned; but I am not sure what report they
brought back. In addition to this, as I hear, some of your house
hold have returned to you from the Welsh campaign. 12 When you
answer this, then, please tell me about the messenger whom the
Scottish king sent to you, about the envoys dispatched by the
Count of Flanders to the king, what you have heard about my lord
king and the Welsh, and whatever news of my lord Pope has reached
8 Malcolm IV. 9 Count Philip of Flanders.
10 Matilda, mother of Henry II. Cf. Letters 145, 155. 11 Eleanor, Wife of Henry II. Cf. Letter 135. 12 A fruitless campaign ln the first part of 1165. Birdgeman
(Princes of_ South Wales, p.48), and Eyton (Itinera Henrici 11, pp. 79, 82), divide the campaign into two sections, one in May and the other ln July of that year.
,.. l ------------------------------------------~-------------------
58
your ears after his arrivai at Montpeiier. 13 I hope to hear good
tidings of him, the more so because the majority of those among
whom I am staying prophesy reverses. They say that the soldiers
of Pisa, Geneva, and Arelate have taken to sea at the command of
the Teuton despot.L4 to set a trap tor him, and that they are en
gaged in piracy--so much so that no one at all may saii on that •
seai5 without their safeconduct. It is even said that the Teuton
would like to thrust into the church of Mainz that apostate of
his, not Christian but anti-Christ, 16 who has succeeded Rainoid17
in the office of the chancery, and in the persecution or the
church, the crushing and butchery of whole peopies, and the over
throw or organized society. There is a report that he merited
this promotion for subduing all of Tuscany18 for the Teutons, and
Campania as wei.L, so that nothing outside the city walls, neither
in the fields, the o.Live gardens, nor the vineyards, is left to
the Romans. Hence, they say, besieged and somewhat weakened by
hunger, by dint or earnest entreaties and cash payments the
populace has secured a truce up until the Feast or St. Michael; 19
i3 Alexander III and his court had taken refuge in France from Barbarossa. Conrer Cambridge Medieval History, vol. V, pp. 6.L7 and following.
i4 Frederick Barbarossa. i5 That is, the shores of the Mediterranean near those places. 16 A play on the name or Christian or Buch, bishop of Mainz i.Lo't-
1183. The archbishop-elect, Conrad ot· Wi tte.Lsbach, was dispossessed in May, 1165, by Barbarosea.
i7 Rainoid or Daesei, archbishop or Cologne 1159-1167. 18 This occurred in August, .Lib5. 1
~-----------------------------------------.
59
at that time,unless my lord Pope arrives and comes to their aid,
they will receive Guy of Crema20 and will take the oath according
to the Teutonic formula. And, not to omit anything, they claim
that some Teuton prophetesses are making prophecies21 to fan the
Teuton madness still higher, and to give the schismatics heart.
But surely God has the power to trample down the pride or Moab, 22
who opposes the Lord with insolent vaunting, and whose arrogance
is greater than his courage. With things in such a turmoil, then,
I think there is nothing more salutary than to take reruge in the
clemency of Christ; for even though He is being crucified again,
He is not being killed, but will cause His crucifiers to be cruel
lied still more paln!'ully, in the vengeance o!' the dove. 23 He is
already crucirying them in part, caLling against them the sword
and pestilence, and His other angels as well, through whom He
punishes still more gloriously those who glory !"iercely in them
selves against Him. If" those loyal to the holy see of Canterbury
20 The anti-pope Paschal III, who succeeded the anti-pope Victor IV in llo4.
21 The nuns St. Hildegard of Bingen (died llrf9) and Elizabeth or Scnoenau (died 1165). A contemporary annalist writes of them, "In these days God made manifest His power through the frail sex, in the two maidens Hildegard and Elizabeth, whom He filled with a prophetic spirit, making many kinds of visions apparent to them through His messages which are to be seen in writing." (Quoted in Millor's edition of John's Letters.) Cr. Annales Palidenses, anno 1158, apud Mon. Germ. SS., xvi.90. (Cited by Eckenstein, Woman Under Monasticism, p. 257.)
22 Cf. Genesis 19.37, Deuteronomy 2.9. 23 Cf. Jeremias 25.38; and the accompanying note in the Douay
Version published by p. J. Kenedy & Sons, New York, 1911.
~' --------------------------------------------------------, 60
stand by you--and it would be well to keep them constantly in
mind--at God's command this tempest will subside to our advantage,
and happily we wiLl make the desired port. I have not lost hope
that our patrons will be beneficent toward us if we "set our heart
upon our ways," 24 and ir we so engage ourselves in the practice of
the divine law that we are no less eager to do than 'to hear it.
For, as some wise man says, "Practical experience is the taskmaste
of intelligence." May you and yours fare well. Please send back
my messenger quickly.
24 Cf. Aggaeus L.7.
61
Letter 145: John to Archbishop Thomas Becket
Recently I tried to interest and encourage my lord Pope, 1
and confided with some enthusiasm that I thought I knew of a
way to restore peace ror himself and tor you. However, he re
plied that he had hopes of peace from the words of the Empreeef
as she had sent over the abbot of St. Mary de Voto,3 who
promised that the English king4 could be easily persuaded to
do whatever my lord Pope might wish, if he himself were willing
to league himself with the kings, as he has long been asked to
do. Since my lord Pope is anxious for this, and the French
king5 seemed quite amenable, my lord Pope seemed certain or a
parley between the kings and himself. As a matter of fact, he
had already invited the French king to celebrate the feast of
the Purification6 with him. On my return I met his majesty
near Paris, and spoke with him for some time. Although he
compassionated you and your fellow exiles and blamed my lord
king for hie obstinacy, still he seemed to speak less enthusi-
l Alexander III. Cf. Letters 13b, 144, etc. 2 Matilda, mother of Henry II; she died at Rouen, september
10, 1167. Cf. Letter 144. 3 One St. Mary de Voto (or "Vaeu 11
) was an abbey of Canons regular near Cherbourg, in the diocese of Coutances. Another, which seems to be the one meant here, was a Cistercian abbey in the diocese or Rouen. Richard de Bloseville was the abbot. {Cf. Rerum Gall. et Franc. SS 16.510.)
4 Henry II. - - -5 Louis VII. 6 February 2nd.
62
astically of your cause than he has usually done. And when I
continued trying to stir him to action, he answered that he
esteemed your person tenderly enough, and approved your cause,
but feared that if under his influence my lord Pope should do
something to alienate the English king, the Roman church would
blame him for everything else, since they had lost so great a
friend on his account. He urged this consideration repeatedly.
I mulled it over thoughtfully, trying to get a mental picture
of our prospects if the English king were to be present. I
advanced many arguments in nis favor and many against you; and,
as he acts, I cajoled, promised, offered compromises, to study
his inlluenoe on those who were amenable and those who hesi-
tated. And this especially in view of his having won over the
royal cup-bearer,7 and--more important--Count Robert.8 For
his wife,9 a kinswoman of my abbot, 10 recently sent over to
England, together with some other trinkets, three hundred yards
of Rheimish wool to the king, to make shirts. She is certainly
a prudent woman, and in addition to the gifts which she and her
husband frequently receive, she hopes that the king will pro
vide marriages among the nobility for their many children. The
7 Guy of Senlis. 8 Robert or Dreux, brother of Louis VII and ot· Archbishop
Henry or Rheims. 9 Agnes or Braine, daughter of Guy of Darnpierre.
10 Peter or Celle.
63
archbishop of Rheims, 11 loves Count Robert very tender~y, and
his children too. I am afraid, consequently, that when it
comes to the test, fortune will easily influence friends of
this sort. My advice, wish, and single prayer, therefore, is
that you turn your mind wholly to the Lord and to the support
or prayer; ror, as it is written in Proverbs, "the name or the
Lord is a strong tower," 12 and i!' a man take reruge in it he is
freed :t'rom all distress. In the meanwhile lay aside all other
occupations as much as you can; even though they may often
seem necessary, sti~i what I am urging should be preferred, be-
cause it is even more necessary. The laws and the canons are
helprul, or course, 13 but, believe me, this is not the kind of
help you need now. "Not sights like these does this hour de
mand."14 In fact, they arouse more curiosity than devotion.
In the distress of the people, as it is written, "Between the
porch and the altar the priests" and "the Lord's ministers
shall weep, 11 saying, "Spare, 0 Lord, spare thy people. "15
Don't you remember that? "I was exercised and I swept my
11 Henry, brother or Count Robert. ( Cf. Note 8.) 12 Proverbs 18.10. 13 Archbishop Thomas was studying canon law under the guidance
or Lombard or Piacenza. L4 Virgl~, Aeneid 6.37; translation by H. Rushton Fairclough in~ Classical Library {VirgiL 1), London, Wm. Heinemann, 1930. Cf. Aeneid 2.251.
15 Cr. ,Joel 2.L'f• John has added 11 et 11 between 11 sacerdotes 11
and 11ministri," and has changed "et dicent" to "dicentes"; the corresponding words in the English have not been included in quotation marKs.
64
f
spirit, 11 11 in the day of my trouble" seeking 11 God with my hands,
says the propnet, to teach us that spiritual exercises and the
cleansing effect or calamity turn away tne scourge or conecienc
and win the mercy of God. Who arises in remorse or conscience
after reading tne iaw, or even the canons? Even more: a
scnolar•s exercises sometimes swell his knowledge to a very
tumor, but they rarely or never enkindle hie devotion. I
would rather nave you meditate on the Psalms, or· page through
tne books or St. Gregory•s "Moralia,"17 than philosophize
after the fashion of the scholastics. It is helpful to conrer
about one 1 e cnaracter with some spiritual adviser whose
example can inspire, rather than to examine and dissect con-
troversial branches of profane learning. God knows the intent
and devotion with which I suggest this; receive it as you
please. But if you foliow this course, God will be your help-
er, and you will not have to fear what man may devise. God
Himself knows that in tne present distress you can, as I think,
place your hope in no man. I have heard, however, that the
king o!· France approached my lord Pope on your behalf, and tha
lb A combination or two passages rrom Psalms 76; the first part, rrom verse 7, reads in tne Douay Version, "I was exercised, and I swept my spirit 11
; the second, rrom Verse 3, "In the day of my troubie I sought God, with my hands lifted up to Him in the night •••• "
1'7 In Migne, Patrologia Latina volume 75.
65
he thanked the monks or Pontigny. 18 And I have heard that you
wrote to the Archbishop of Rheims to have your property in
Fianders administered in his own name, inasmuch as it was going
to be his own; but I very much doubt if' this be true. They
say rurther, that Brother Hugh or St. Benedict has returned
from Engiand, and some others w 1. th him, to discharge the lega
tion ot· our king to my lord Pope and the king of France; I am
anxious to know what report they brought. There is aiso a
rumor that there was an earthquake in England recently in the
neighborhood or Canterbury, London, and Winchester, but I am
not satisfied of its truth. It is said, too, that the bishops
or the dioceses in which your c.nurches lie are at present ex-
ercising jurisdictiJn in them, because your clergy is dumb-
rounded and does not dare utter a syllabl.e now. I wonder if
this is true, even though I couid easily believe the bishops
would will.ingly worm their way in somehow or other, so that
they could sometime say they had been in possession. I hear
this method was rollowed during the vacancy or the see or Can
terbury, when serfride or Ch1chesterl9 took over the churches
ror wnich his successor is now f1ghting.20 And, incredible as
18 The Cistercian monks of Pontigny, with whom Thomas had taken refuge.
19 Bishop of Chichester 1125-.Li45. The see of Canterbury was vacant from the death or Wil..liam Corbel, November 26, 1136, until the accession of Theobald, January 8, 1139.
20 Hilary, Bishop ot Chichester 1147-1.169.
66
it may seem that they should do this, yet it seems advisable to
me that you should take precautions through my lord Pope and
secure letters patent from him, so that nothine usurped
against the see of Canterbury in the present storm may harm
her for the future. But you yourself hear what ie happening
in England more often and on surer authority than I do.
Please let me know, then, by the bearer of this letter, of
your own situation and that of the curia, 21 and whether the
abbot whom my lord Pope sent over to England has returned as
yet.22 Do not t·orget what you said at Lyons,23 when you asked
help or lord Henry of Pisa. 24 Farewell, and remember how
active in the service or God your predecessor was on the very
day he died. 25 My best wishes to all yo~r household •. My
abbot wishes to be remembered, as does the Bishop or Chalons,26
whom I have asked to receive one of your clerics. He agreed
willingly, and asked only that you send a man of good charac-
ter; even so, he will receive whomsoever you send him. But if
21 With Pope Alexander III in France. Cf. Letter 136. 22 Philip, abbot or L'Aumone, a Cistercian abbey near Blois. 23 Thomas had recommended Guichard for the see 9f Lyons in
place or Drogo, the bishop-elect, who was never consecrated Guichard was consecrated on August 8, 1165, but did not get possession of hie see until November, 1167. Cf. Letter 231 or Millor's edition. C!'. also Thomas' letter to Louis VII, in Robertson, Becket Materials v.l99; and Rerum Gall. et Franc. Script. 16.125, 13·J, 134. - -
24 Cardinal or Saints Nereue and AChilleus. 25 Theobald, who died APril 18, 1161. 26 Guido III, de Joinvil.te, bishop of C.nalone-sur-Marne,. 1164-
1190. Cf. Letter 137.
~ ~------------------------------------------------~
you do send one anywhere, instruct him to conduct himself
humbly, f'or the men of this kingdom are humble.
67
68
Letter 146: John to his Halr-Brother Robert
In addition to the remembrance of you1 which fraternal af
fection often excites in me, the remarkable token of loyalty ..
and devotion you have sent me will afford, time and again, a
reason for wishing you joy, and a pleasant opportunity for cor
respondence.2 For, if we look rather closely at its properties
(as archdeacon Baldwin,3 Roger o1' Sudbury, 4 and our little
brotherS will not deny), the very material of the gift clearly
shows the ruling thought in the heart of the sender. Gold,
without stain, rich to lavishness, undiminished by hammer or
!'lame, unsoilable in that it permits no rust (whence it is the
custodian of other metals)--does not this symbolize a stainless
raith, rich and lavish affection, staunchness in adversity, and
a restraint in the midst of plenty which maintains virtue? For
the nature o!' gold, as you know better than I from the know
ledge you have gained in the natural sciences, is actually as I
have described it. For this reason, prudent men who wish to
store their money without loss, mix gold with the silver, to
save the silver from rust by its association with the gold.
1 Robert, half-brother of John. Ct'. Letters 160, 163, 171. 2 Robert had evidently sent JOhn a signet ring, made of silver
and gold, and set with a hyacinty, to judge by the description given in this playful (?) letter.
3 Archdeacon ot' TOtnes. 4 A c.Leric or Exeter. Cf. Letter 161. 5 R~chard, John's brother and RObert's half-brother. Cf.
Letter 136.
69
Next, the circular form of-the gift is a sign of perfection,6
and shows that the sender possesses in their entirety the vir-
tues described above. The brilliancy of the stone is a symbol
or resplendent prudence and learning; and surely the heavenly
color itself pointe unmistakably to the direction in which, in
all his actions, the heart 0!' the sender particularly tends.
The very name of the stone, moreover, denotes grace o:t' word and
work; for "hyacinth, 11 i!. we trace its Grecian origin, is trans
lated as "perfect r·lower, 11 or "rlowering everywhere"--"hya"
denoting "universal," and "cinthus" translated as uflower."
And lest in this stormy crisis r·aith should waver, or reason be
seduced by human suasion, the inscription strengthens the faith
and enlightens the reason, by cleansing reason from error and
entru~ting it to Christ, and ascribing to Christ the victory,
lest the faith or a Christian languish from weskness.7 By
these two words, then, faith is freed from weakness, and reason
rrom error. And because the end of the f'ight is victory, and
the fruit or victory is the crown, the inscription consequently
ascribes to Christ the sovereign power, to show that those who
have endured the perils and hardships or the struggle with
Christ will rule with Him, and those who have opposed Him will
6 Cf'. the Peripatetic doctrine, that a circle is the figure of perrection.
7 From the homily which John now proceeds to deliver, it is clear that the ring was inscribed with the common formula: "Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat."
70
be worn away by a double measure or confusion and contrition,
when "justice be turned into judgment. u8 Certe.inly "the king' s
honor loveth Judgment,"9 and his "eyes behold" what is "equit
able,"10 because they love it; for "where love is, there is the
eye."11 This, then, is the construction I have put on the two
phrases. The third repeats the name of Christ and speaks with
restraint or the dignity of His rule, .with this intent, I
think: to join to Christ the heart of him who wears the ring,
as to the Victor over His persecutors and as to the King of
kings, and to unite that heart to Him inseparably. It shows,
too, that it is not the emperor or today12 with whom Christ is
concerned, when as a schismatic he plots the theft or the
Roman Empire rrom Christ, and tries by force and deceit and
heretical dishonor to sunder the indivisible unity or Rome,
corrupt her integrity, derile her modesty, and overturn as
much as he can the regular dispositions or God and set Hie
promises at naugnt. The name or Christ is in danger of being
taken away from the empire; but, as the inscription of your
girt teaches, thename of Christ is the only one that persists
8 Psalms 18.15. 9 Psalms 98.4.
10 Psalms 16.2. John uses the singular here, where the place cited has the plural, i.e., "aequitatem" for "aequitates."
11 ( Mlllor' s notes here re:t"er to Letter 113. Perhaps in the thesis which incLuded that letter there is a reference which will explain this.)
12 Frederic Barbarossa. Cf. Letter 144.
11
rorever, and the honor of him who presumes to empire and boasts
in a false name is an empty one, and wi~~ certainly be brought
low by Him Who is before all the ages. All this and more,
which I omit ror brevity's sake, have I seen in the ring,
recognising fraternal affection in the gift, and advised in
many wholesome ways or virtue by the quality of the gift. Is
there not every right and reason, then, to love and esteem
such a brother? One may always love, surely, and cannot be
forbidden it. This I d.o, intense~y and unceasingly, and have
resolved that when I may I will grate!'u~ly repay your love its
proper respect. In the meanwhile, I give you all possible
thanks, and beg you earnestly to take our little brother13
under your care, and to give what attention you can to those
connected with us.
l3 Richard, as mentioned before, Cf. Letter 136, where John speaks o!· his return to Exeter.
72
Letter 147: John to Prior Engelbert or Val St. Pierre
Sudden changes of" rortune usually cause inconvenience,
and men who haa ambitioned honors often grow weary under the
buroen of' duties attaching thereto, sorry that their prayers
have been realised. But this is as it should be, for if' they
are blameworthy, it is a just punishment that follows their
orfenses; and, if they are foreordained to this life, a pious
reproot· of this sort destroys the overreaching rancy or ambi
tion, while their strenuous exertion either kil1.s or hO.l.ds in
check the pleasures that accompany distinction. I can easily
believe that you, 1 too, have relt some annoyance at such sudden
changes, but for other reasons, far difrerent and almost direct
ly opposed to the above. For who cou.1.d suspect that you have
been driven by the goad or any wrongru.1. ambition to seek
honors, yearn for the pleasures ot ease, or to follow with
worldly pride the popu.1.ar opinion in every wind? All these
things, indeed, you have despised "as but dung, that you may
gain Christ"2 alone, Who will return to you not the ephemeral
honors-without-honor which you have exchanged ror precious
poverty, but will. grant you everlasting honor in heaven, sur
passing in its incomparable majesty the purple of emperors.
1 Engelbert, prior or Val St. Pierre, a Carthusian monastery in the diocese of Laon.
2 Philiupians 3.8.
'(3
No weak, et'reminate pleasures will rind entrance there, where,
enduring in its true natural state,· the flesh will be filled
with the vigor of the spirit, and transported in angelic
exultation. There public recognition of your merit will not
depend on the whim of' them that mouth untruths, but holy
angels will herald your splendid virtue incessantly. You
should see the proof of this, beloved, not so much from any
words of ours, as from Sacred Scripture, if you persevere in
what you have begun. For it is perseverance alone that reaps
the fruit of every virtue. Nor will you have to labor long at
th1s task, if you measure the future rightly, for the glorious
reward of your toil is now in sight, and your Remunerator
stands at the door.3 Whatever may be the annoyances, then,
that come f'r:JII;l the loss of your priorate and your responsi-
bility for souls and bodies which, as it seems to you, has
been put on shoulders too weak and feeble for such a burden,
bear them patiently for His sake, and cry to Him, for He is
near. 4 With pious trust throw What may seem to you unbearable
upon His shoulders, on which He carried back the lost sheep,5
and bore the burdens of all mankind upon the cross, since His
"government is upon His shoulder."6 He will surely raise you
3 Cf. Apocalypse 3.20. 4 Cf. Psalms 144.18; Isaias 55.6. 5 Cf. Luke 15.5. 6 I saia89 .6.
74
up, for He is "faithful, and will not suffer you to be tempted
above that which you are able,,'( but will make the temptation
itself your gain.
1 Corinthians ~.10.13.
'
75
Letter 148: John to Abbot Ingram ot' St. Medard
The cause of Christ needs no great recommendation, espe
cially ror you, 1 who are eager to be united still more happily
to Him through the service of sincere devotion and the good
graces o:t' the saints interceding for you. Who can doubt that
the cause of the blessed poor of Val St. Pierre is the cause
or Christ? 2 Who does not know that Christ Himself is saddened
or consoled in their sadness or consolation--that is, unless
one knows nothing of the prophecy in the gospel, in fulfillment
ot which Christ in Judgment will pronounce sentence ror the
condemnation of the wicked and the salvation and glory of the
e1ect?3 And because, as I have heard, in your goodness you
pity the brethren I have mentioned, and in your kindness have
gladly come to their support, with them and for them, I very
sincerely thank you !'or this charity of yours. When you tell
me, and when time and circumstances require, I will repay you •
as far as I can. I am sure, certainly, that Christ, Whom you
are now comtorting in His members, will repay His debt "in
plentiful mercy, 11 4 pouring'back into your bosom a measure
"shaken together and running over. u5 I beg and entreat you,
1 Ingram, Abbot or St. Medard, a Benedictine abbey near Soisscn 2 cr. Letter 147, which may have some connection with this. 3 Cf. 3;Ja tthew 25.31-45. 4 Psalms 91.11. 5 Luke 6.38.
76
too, with all possible earnestness, to take a fond interest in
your cherished foster-son, the prior Engelbert, 6 and to o!'fer
your aid and counsel to him and to his brothers in whatever
ways they may need your protection. Thus, as becomes such a
rather and so noble a see, you will spare the poor embarrass
ment by anticipating their prayers when you can, spreading in
this way your own renown and setting your own conscience at
ease. Since, moreover, it is said that they are being mo~ested •
by some or your brethren (which is neither to your honor. nor
to y.Jur· advantage), I very earnestly entreat you to restore
their peace and enjoin your brethren from disturbing them. It
wii~ be quite true to say that whatever you do for them you do
ror me. This ~ast, however, is too mean a description or what
you wil~ merit, since Christ Himselr wi~~ repay whatever,
either of good or evil, has been done them.
6 Cf. Letter 147; and Letter 188 in Millor's edition.
77
Letter 149: John to Master Nicholas of Norwich
For a long time I have refrained from sending you1 the
frequent notes which I was wont, but my affection for you is
all the warmer ror that. Excessive grief, you know, will
often arrest tears that are natural to one and, if locked in an
anguished heart, it will torment one's spirit more the longer
it is kept from escaping, pouring itael1' out and coming to
light. I do not mean to say this as though giving way to the
force of some flooding torrent; I have learned under philo
sophy's tutelage that, in proportion as an attack throws
·everything into c onfuaion, so too ita violence cannot be long
lived. A whirlwind's rury arises unexpectedly, and on a sudden
tumbles everything together, but it is over in a moment and
stops almost berore it begins to lose ita force. Since, then,
the "raahion of this world pasaeth away 112 as a shadow, and·
vanishes like smoke in a gust of wind to the eyes of philo
sophers, and still more certainly to the eyes or Christian
faith, how then can anything, either in success or disappoint
menta, seem long-lasting to one who is wise?3 What philo
sopher's heart will despair or·exult over what is on.1y momen
tary? I am persuaded, thererore, to bear quietly w.nat I can-
not avoid, and, where my conscience does not prick me, to re-
1 Nicholas, a cleric ot Norwich. 2 Cr. Corinthians 1.7.31. 3 Cf. Cicero, De Senectute 69.
78
joice in tribulations and to thank the divine dispensation for
the seizure or my goode. 4 But though I am not entirely over
whelmed in sorrow at the injuries and losses I have sustained,
r am disturbed nevertheless at not being ab~e to see my
rriende. I fee.! the lose of pleasant intercourse with those
who think with me, and being denied all means and opportunity
or rulfilling the duties of my office. These things upset me.
Yes, I am disturbed by these, but I am far more deeply afrected
by the sufferings o:t· the church; and the distress of my
rriends, of which I hear almost daily, wrings out my heart's
blood. No reason for grief, however, has more strength or
sting than this, that the fury of this storm has, to judge by
the testimony of their actions, driven charity from the hearts
or some in whom I placed my confidence and who eeeme~ to have
standing. This, dear friend, speaking for your ears alone,
since I think you different from the others, is what I dep.!ore;
namely, that I see "the finest co.!or is changed,"5 and the
"silver" ot· the r·ai thful "turned into dross. "0 Perhaps there
is a question in your mind why I make this statement. My
answer is this: it is not a conjecture. I assure you that
4 Henry II, at Mar~borough on December 2b, 1.164, and forbidden that any one or Archbishop Thomas' c.!erks should receive any benefice or money. Cr. Robertson, Becket Materials vol. 3, p. 75.
5 Cf. lamentations 4 • .1. 6 Cr. Ezechiel 12.8; Isaias .1.22.
~--------------------------------------------~ 79
though I nad many friends in good days, yet there is scarcely
one or two who either wish or dare to greet me when, as they
believe, I am deep in evil days. Certainly if a greeting given
to me would prove prejudicial to them, I had rather they re
frain from this perilous act, provided on.ly that charity does
not suffer, than that they put themselves in jeopardy on my
account. Perhaps it is a crimina.l orf'ense to receive letters
rrom me; this consideration will keep me from writing, though
with Goa's grace no one wil.l be able to keep me rrom loving
my friends, even ir- tney love me less or are altogether
estranged from me. Enougn of this. In conclusion, I beg to
commend to you my brotner,7 who has secured peace with my lord
king, even if not the full favor which he has never failed to
deserve. Please recommend him to my .Lord Bishop of N0 rwich,8
and as his Excellency does not dare remit to me three marks
rrom the present reast or St. John,9 please have him transfer
them to my brother, in whose name soever he wishes. I will
receive whatever ravor he does him more gratefully than if it
had been Sh:)wn my in my own person.
7 Richard. 8 Wi.lliam Turbe, B~shop or N0 rwicn l.i46-.ll75· 9 St. J~hn the Baptist, or St. John the Apostle. Each has two
feast days: the former, on June 24th and August 29th; the latter, on Uay 6th, and December 27th.
r--------------------------------~ 80
Letter 150: John to Bishop WiLliam Turbe or Norwich
I know, Father,L that you are wont to love your roya.l
:t'riends with true charity, to accept their devoted services
and to repay them according to your ability and their merit.
This is the reason that I hope to have your sympathy both for
the sincerity of my cause and personal affection, since I have
always shown myself loyal and devoted to you. To your Paterni
ty, there!"ore, I anxious.ly recommend my brother, 2 whose propeit'
has been conriscated more thr::mgh the wil.trulness or others
than through any deserts or his own. I would not commend him
to you, unless he had made his peace with my lord King,3 even
though he has not yet won his rull favor. And also, since
payment or my revenues has been withheld so that I am unable t
co.llect three marks on the present feast or St. John, 4 I pray
you, please, to have three marks transferred to him in whose
name soever you will, in the form of a loan or in some other
way. It certain.ly cannot be blameworthy to succor a man who
is innocent and at peace with my lord King.
l William Turbe, Bishop of Norwich 1146-1175• Cr. Letter 149. 2 Richard. Cf. Letter 149. 3 Henry II. 4 Cf. Letter 149, Not~ 8.
81
Letter 151: John to Wibert and Odo, Prior and Sub-Prior of Chris~Church, Canterbury
In your good judgment, youl can and should remember the
great reverence due to superiors, and the consideration which
the holy see or. Canterbury has shown to her archbishops. Now
although I dare not caJ.l your recent superior2 the equal or his
predecessors, who are glorious tor miracles in your see, still
I do not think the cause for which he stands is a lesser one.
As a matter of fact, it is the same, for in both cases the
r1gnt has been for the freedom and safety of the church. More
over, I trust in the Lord, as by many tokens the Roman church
gives ground for hoping that this ex..Lle and travail ot our
rather wi.ll avail to restore the see or Canterbury and to re
gain ror her all the dignities and privileges in which sne re
joiced under blessed Lan!'ranc's3 direction. But let this be
said for your ears alone; consequently, it is proper ror you
1 Rev. Wm. J. Millor, S.J., in-his edition or John's letters, says here "With the exception or one manuscript, only the initial of' the !'irst prior appears, and the exception has WiJ.J.iam. This is Wil.liam Brito, who succeeded Odo as subprior on the death of the prior Wibert, 27 September, llb7. But William is evidently a mistake for Wibert, tor the subprior's name would not have been written berore the prior's; and arter the death or Wibert, Odo, who succeeded him, fell into disfavor with the archbishop and his friends, and all letters were hencerorth addressed to the sub-prior William."
Odo was prior lJ.b7-1176, and was afterwards Abbot or Batt.Le. For both Odo and Brito, c.:Jnfer John's Entheticus lines l6b7-16t;2.
2 Archbishop Thomas. 3 Archbishop of Canterbury, l070-10t;9.
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to give every aid in your power, and even beyond your power,
to your father who has suffered shipwreck, and so deserve well
of him by your own favors, that, when with God's help he has
won out, he will be able and obliged to remember you with
gratitude. Is it not unseemly and disgracerul if other succor
a bishop who is in exile ror Justice's sake, while his own
sons, for whom he is laying up a treasure of honor and glory,
refuse to mini:->.ter to his needs? Have you not offered him
ever:ything right at the start, even the reliquaries or the
saints, that he might obtain your position for y:)u? Since his
means are rather slender, thererore, because of his support of
the Roman church, he himself begs you, and I, your loyal frie
counsel you, to come to his aid in his necessity, lest my lord
Pope4 repent of his rormer favors and you yourselves find an
abiding cause for chagrin and shame at your unkindness. Let
the example of foreigners inspire you; they are withdrawing
from their pers_)nal use and needs, and even earning by manual
labor, the goods they are sharing with your exiled countryman.
4 Alexander III.
83
Letter 152: Abbot Peter or Celle to the Abbot or St. Amand
Necessity tests the faith of friends, and demonstrates the
arrection each has for the other. Now a serious and difficult l necessity rests on me, who have long since vowed myselr wholly
to your2 service, and with God's help will remain so unshake
ably; but it is an obligation which I hope and pray will be
lightened by your kindness, in which I have great trust. You
will perhaps be surprised to hear that I have been sentenced to
exile, and am harassed and tormented with constant want. The
reason is that there is a certain cleric,3 facile princeps
among my friends, whose good fortune and reverses have all been
mine throughout many past perils, and whose cultured erudition
and virtuous life wins everyone's stronger approval the better
it becomes known. It is this cleric who is in exile from
England at my h-=>use, and I am in exile at home with him. He is
suffering the wrath of the English king, 4 though certainly not
of his own deserving, as his and my own conscience bear wit-
ness; but rather because he has given due service to his lord,
the Archbishop or Canterbury. The cleric is Master John of
Salisbury, in good repute on both sides of the Channel. To
1 Abbot Peter or Celle. Cf. Letters 136, 137, 143, 145. 2 Hugh, abbot of St. Amand, near Douai. 3 JOhn or Salisbury. See below. 4 Henry II, who had banished the members or Becket's household
and retinue along wlth himself.
84
ease, then, the needs o!' an exile as much my own as my brother' ,
I beg you earnestly out of your love f·or me to reconcile him
with the English king by the intercession of the Count of
FJ.anders5 and by your own; and to secure letters patent t'rom
the king f'or him, in virtue of which he may return safely and
enjoy his possessions in peace. you may bP sure that there is
no way in which you may put me under greater obligation to you.
And there is no need ror you to pretend to be unable, for it
is generally acknowledged that you have the necessary influence
if you are willing to use it.
5 Count PbWP. Cf. Letters 136, 144.
85
Letter 153: John to Bishop Bartholomew or Exeter
Since the withdrawal of my .lord Pope, 1 nothing v: orth men
tion has occurred here, nor is there anything certain from the
court of the Emperor. 2 I will therefore dispense with recount
ing what is public knowledge, and concentrate on personal af
fairs. The archdeacon of Poitiers3 has promised me, as I have
already writt~n, to give his attention to my reconciliation,
but he has not told me what progress he has made. I asked his
help now in a second letter, and the aid or the bishop of
Lond·:m4 too, who they say enjoys the particular ravor or the
king; the bearer of this letter will be able to show you both
of' these. If my recall sh:>uld be discussed anywhere in your
presence, please work in your own person and through others
for a reconciliation that will imply no stain ot· disl.oyalty nor
stigma ot· disgrace; otherwise I pret·er to remain in exil.e for
ever. If I were r"'quired to desert my archbishop (which none
ot· his hJusehold has done yet, nor anyone else in all of
England), God. rorbid that I be tne first or last ever to agree
to such a deed of dishJnor~ It is certainly true that I have
given loyal service to my lord the archbishop, but still, upon
' 1 Alexander III withdrew from France on October of 1165, enter-
ing Rome on November 23rd of that year. 2 Fredrick Barbarossa. Cr. Letters 144, 146. 3 Richard of Ilchester. Cf. Letter 144. 4 Gilbert Foliot. Cr. Letter 144.
my conscience, I have preserved intact the honor of my lord
king. Should anyone say that I have acted against his majesty
in any way, then where I can orfer no valid excuse I am pre
pared to make satis!'action to his h':mor and good pleasure in
all Justice. uHe that seeth into the heart "5 and judges men's
words and worKs knows that I, more often and more directly than
any other man, have hurried my lord archbishop away from oc
casions on which from the outset, with a sort of uncontrolled
zeal, he seemed to have provoked and embittered the king and
his court, although many allowances were to be made for time,
place, and pers,.ms. I believe without doubt, at any rate, that
through the Loru's mercy "my justice shall answer ror me to
morrow. "6 This wiLL certainly be the case with my lord of Can
terbury, since this exile of his has been or great pror·it 1'or
his intellectual and moral development, and of some little help
to myself•as well, ror which I thank Divine Providence. I
would not be wil.Ling to promise that I will not serve my lord
or Canterbury hencerorward, althougn God is my witness that I
am determined no longer to be attached to his court. If the
Lord has opened a way ror my recall, please write and te.L.L me
whether I should return with my books and all my baggage. For
ir this be the case, I will need more horses and many more
things which are lacking at the present time.
5 Ct'. Proverbs 24 • .L2. 6. Genesis 30.33.
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Letter 154: John to Master Humphrey Bos
The counsel of the Scriptures te.Lls us that "advice" is to
be sought ttrrom a wise man,ul and that the loyalty of friends
will be "proved in distress."2 Now I certainly entertain no
doubts of your3 wisdom, which you have built up from practical
experience along with wide reading, and--what is most important
--have received through grace; nor do I lack confidence in the
charity which your often-tried character and virtue promise me.
Hence it is that I ask your advice in these critical straits
of mine, and beg you earnestly to write back to me, by the
messenger I have dispatched to my .Lord of Bayeux, 4 what course
seems most expedient in my present position, provided that my
integrity remain intact, for without that there is nothing I
deem expedient. To equip you better to give advice, my case
is as ro.Llows. I have preserved the loyalty I owe to the see
and archbishop of Canterbury, and I have stood by him faithful
ly both in England and on the continent, whenever justice and
forbearance seemed in his favor. But whenever he seemed to
swerve from justice or to exceed the mean, "I withstood. him to
the face."5 God is my witness to this, as are my conscience
1 cr. Tobias 4.lg. 2 Cf. Proverbs .L 7 .1'7. 3 A i:'riend or JOhn's, apparently for some time past. 4 Bishop Henry or Bayeux. Cf. Letters 139, 140, 144. 5 Galatians 2 • .11.
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and the t·riends and companions wno have associated with us.
Now in all this I have done nothing intentionally contrary to
the honor due my lord king or to his interests, which I am pre
pared to show as justice may require, i!' such a move be safe
and without compulsion; and if it be round that I have offended
in anything, I wiLL make full and willing satisraction. My
reconciliation has been considered this year, and the king was
prevailed upon to allow my return if I were willing to swear
upon tne relics or the saints that I have not acted contrary
to his honor or interests on this side or the channel. I put
this proposal before my lord Pope, 6 and he replied that the
king and his court would have interpreted as against his honor
whatever I might admit having done against his wish; he per
suaded me not to return under these conditions, but to wait
until his maJesty's anger should abate somewhat. After this,
I was urged to offer bond tnat thencet·orward I would not aid
the archbishop in any way, and by this means to regain the
king's favor. Now it is true that I am not bound in loyalty to
the archbishop by any human oath or obligation of faith, see
ing that I owe him nothing but the obedience which is due every
bishop from his subjects; yet I did not think I should accept
this condition, because I believed it dishonorable to deny my
lord and renounce obedience to him, which as yet no one in all
6 Alexander III.
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the kingdom has done. Aside from this, however, I would will
ingly do whatever I might with integrity or conscience and of
character. When I explained this to my lord Rotrou,7 in whom
I have great confidence, he promised me his steadfast support.
please send me your advice in this matter; and be sure that I
nave determined henceforward not to be a member of the arch
bishop's court. My lord or Canterbury8 knows this well, for I
have withdrawn from his company, though I am withdrawing
neither my loyalty nor my affection.
7 Rotr,)U de Beaumont, archbishop of Rouen from 1165 to 1183, and former bishop of Evreux, 1139 to 1165.
8 Archbishop Thomas.
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Letter 155: Archbish~ Thomas Becket to Nicholas, Guest Master of Mount St. Jacques
your Fraternity1 knows how patiently I have borne the
losses, injuries, and abuse heaped upon me and mine by my dear-2 ly cherished lord, the illustrious King of England. Arter
abusing my own patience, he has turned his attacks upon hie
most holy mother, the spouse of the Cruciried, and has not
reared to make a handmaid or her for whose freedom God the Son
willed to be condemned to a shameful death. I have advised him
often with a father's love, begged him with the loyalty due my
lord, and reproved him with the authority of the pastor. But
in my person he has scorned his loyal father Just as much as
his pastor; and, to present the whole true picture, he has done
a thing more dangerous ror the church and more disastrous for
himselr by spurning Him Whose place I .hold; Christ. These
things might be considered trifles, and he might scorn them as
he is used to, had not the son of God told the pastors of His
church, "He that deepiseth you, despiseth me,"3 and "He that
toucheth you, toucheth the apple or my eye."4 StilJ., my
1 Nicholas, the guest master of the monastery of Mont St. Jacques, near Rouen. This letter was written for Archbishop Thomas by John in the spring of lJ.66, when Thomas had determined to excommunicate Henry II. The archbishop forbore, how· ever, when he learned of Henry's illness. Cf. Letter 174.
2 Henry II. 3 Luke 10.16. 4 zacharias 2.8.
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solicitude went to even greater lengths, and I had the
sovereign PontiffS offer him his devoted prayers for the peace
of the church, but he went unheard. My lord Pope exhorted him,
and found a dear listener. He added rebukes; they were con
temned. Finally he sounded a threat with the trumpet of
apostolic authority, but not even thus could his majesty's
faith and reason be aroused. Then, too, not to omit any of the
unfortunate circumstances, the king of France, his friend and
lord, 6 lent all his effort and industry, but not even he has
deserved to be "heard ror his reverence. "7 I came for a con
ference with him,8 but was not admitted to his presence, nor
did he allow any mention to be made or my name or or the cause
or God. Afterwards I sent him respected men as envoys, and
letters patent, as he had asked, which expressed the justice of
the church's cause and the meaning of my petition; but my
labors and theirs, as far as he is concerned, have ended in
vain. I had relied on the pledge of my lady Empress,9 as you
know and as she should not forget, but she has deluded me at
every turn. This patience or mine, then, proving harmful to
the church or God, still more harmful to him whose "last state
becomes" daily uworse than the firstttlO and most harmful·of all
5 Alexander III. 6 Louis VII was Henry's reudal suzerain in Normandy, Brittany,
h~ine, Anjou, and Poitou. 7 Hebrews 5.7. 8 At Chinon, June, 1166. 9 L1:atilda, Henry's mother, with whom Nicholas had great infJuenc
10 Matthew 12.45; Luke 11.26.
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for myselr, who will have to render an account berore the
tribunal or· the Bridegroom not only of my own works, but or His
blood and the sufferings or His bride as well. Under these
circumstances, you may be certain, and may intimate to my lady
Empress, that shortly--nay, torthwith--as I live and God is my
strength, I shall unsheathe against the person and domains of
the king the sword of the Holy Ghost, "more piercing than any
two-edged sword,"11 to overthrow stubborn rlesh and save a
spirit swooning and all but quenched. Persuade my lady, then,
to hold me excused ror the ruture in a matter which I may no
longer disguise; let her be sure that, if her son comes again
to life, hears the voice or God and accepts his mother's coun
sel, he will find me prompt for God's honor and his own wishes.
Meanwhile, as God is my witness, I mourn her dying son with as
much grief as I hoperully long and pray for his honor and sal
vation. I say this in sorrow, weeping, groaning, and sighing
as though applying a fiery cautery to my own bowels, cut by
keen steel from the bosom that housed them. God Himself knows
this, and it is not right that I any longer practice an impious
piety to His own injury by preferring to Him my earthly mother,
rather, sister, or even sovereign.l2 "There is no sorrow like
to this sorrow,"13 but "the charity of God," and the advantage
11 Hebrews 4.12. 12 Cf. Matthew 10.37. 13 Lamentations 1.12.
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and honor or Him Whom I serve, "presseth us" 14 to endure this
courageously. Farewell. Remember me to my brothers, and urge
them to pray f;)r me, that I may receive "the spirit of counsel
and o:r forti tude"; l5 and to pray !'or my lord king, that he may
have "the spirit of knowledge and o:r godliness,"16 so that he
may make his peace with the church ot· God and with me ln the
Lord.
14 Cf. Corinthians 2.5.14. 15 Isaias l.L.2. 16 Isaias 11.2.
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Letter 156: John to Master Ralph of L1sieux
For a long time, dearest of my friends, 1 I have wanted to
learn of your circumstances and or those or other old friends,
the more so as I have rarely heard anything either from you or
about you to relieve my anxiety. True, I do hear something
about you now and then through tne good offices or travellers,
but from you personally I nave heard nothing at all. I can
only explain this clearly by supposing that, as we are in evil
days and you are a man of prudence, you have kept quiet from a
certain sense or caution. For my part, to conress my weakness
to yJur ears alone, and to disclose my foolishness to my friend
as though to myself, I have never been able to exercise this
caution, and not 6.es1re to snare in the viciss1 tude·s of my
rriends and shoulder their cares in my own small way. Thus, as
I have written to you rather often, and you have never written
in answer, my solicitude has been stil~ more aroused, and can
no longer keep from inquiring by special messenger arter your
own status and that of olci friends. Do not think that by "old"
I would nave you understand one-time friends whose charity is
growing cool, for I have neither mentioned nor sensed any de
crease in their charity. Whom am I to 11 Judge another man's
l Master Ralph of Lisieux. The tone of John's letter suggests tnat his friend had been cool since John's banishment.
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servant" who "to h1.s own lord standeth or falleth"? 2 He shall
stand to me too, with God's grace. Charity, to be sure, is
prompt to serve,3 knows no evil, is strong as death,4 and
gives many lasting proors or· its sincerity; it bears constant
ly "a greater testimony than that of John,"5 giYen as well by
its works as by the rruits or- these works. Ir you have the
time and permission, and ir you care to, you can learn or my
circumstances and those or others from the bearer or this let-
ter, whom I have sent ror this purpose; he wi.ll also tell you
how you may send me news of yourselr. Be sure that I have per-
mission, leisure, and a devoted desire to obey eagerly the com
mands or yourself and your servants, if you will deign to en
Join anything on a traveller. I will consider it a great
ravor to be occupied in any service for you at your direction.
OnJ.y presume then, my dear rriend, to ask something trom a
rriend or lay an obligation on him when ne is putting himself
and his possessions at your disposal with a1.l the affection in
his heart.
2 Cr. Romans 14.4. 3 Cr. Corinthians 1.13. 4 Cf. Canticles 8.6. 5 John 5·3b.
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Letter 15"(: John to the Prior or Merton
Vlhen human counsel faiJ.s we must or necessity fly to
divine, and there is no easier or more successful way to win
this, I think, than for the friends oi' God1 to work to secure
by their prayers what was lost by the f'auJ.t or men without a
champion. Now, I am proscribed and in exiJ.e, and as tar as
men are concerned, do not see the reason for either punishment.
I realize, however, that berore God I have deserved punishment
still more severe, and perhaps my sins will demand that I be
beaten with these and even more bitter lashes without knowing
the reason. The judgments of God are more to be feared, the
more they proceed from a hidden justice and a secret accounting·
for it is a twofold punishment if the punishment itself is
felt, and the reason for it is unknown. Yet if God in His
mercy wishes me to suffer "for justice's sa.i!e, 112 I accept it
most willingly, knowing that He is wont to bless His friends
in this way, since "through many tribulations"3 is the way to
the Kingdom. I own that I have kept faith with the church of
God, and that I have given my archbishop the loyal obedience I
owed him; with God's help, moreover, I will never repent of
l The letter is addressed to Robert, prior of Merton, a priory or Austin canons in Surrey. Robert was Archbishop Thomas' confessor and life-long friend, and was present at his death.
2 Matthew 5.10. 3 Acts 14.21.
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having prese~Ted either my loyalty or my obedience. I hope
that our archbishop, too, is r·ollbwing the footsteps of his
t'athers on the true and narrow path and attaining to life by
the way of God's commandments. With all the fervor I can,
thererore, I beseech your Paternity and our lords and brothers
to commend our contest to God in their prayers, so that if we
are "where there is no passing"4 we may be brought back to
the way; and if we are on the way, as we certainly believe,
that we may advance and be brought to life.5 We need no more
than to have our cause r1nd tavor with God.
4 Psalms 106.40. 5 Cf. Matthew 7.14.
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Letter.l58: John to the Prior or Merton
I thank you.l for having looked out tor my interests, as I
nave .Learned from your letters and from many reports, and I
hope that thr::>ugh God's mercy your solicitude will better my
condition. I believe it has helped already, and it is to the
prayers of yourself and other rriends that I ascribe the fact
that "all the days of my pilgrimage 112 have ended happily for
me. And since I consider myself your friend 11 always and in all
places, u3 I earnestly beg you to intercede with the Lord t·or
me, that "He will not suffer me to be tempted above that which
I am able, but making with the temptation issueu4 when and how
it seems good to Him, He lead me back to the land or my birth,
provided this too seems good, without cost to conscience or
reputation. Pray too that he wi.Ll soften the wrath of my
lord KingS who has long persecuted me without cause, and still
continues' to persecute, as God and my c.::mscience are witness.
May God spare him, and not let the blasts of this storm drive
charity out of my heart. I am cont'ident, however, that my
.Lord of London6 and the archdeacon of Poitiers7 will work ror
1 Robert, prior of Merton. CI. Letter 157. 2 Genesis 47.9. 3 Preface or the Mass. 4 Corinthians 1.10.13. The quotation is changed from the
second to the first person. 5 Henry II. 6 Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London rrom 1lb3 to 1188. 7 Richard of I1chester. Cr. Letters 144, 153·
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my reconciliation if they see an opportunity; nor have I any
doubts or Richard de Lucy. ts I beg you too, therefore, to fur
ther my interests with them if you see an occasion, but only
insofar as you believe it will not be prejudicial to your own
church. However, if it is not safe for men to intervene,
pJ.ease beseech God fervently to direct "my goings in His
paths."9 He can make a homeland for me in any place whatever,
and to my own sa~vation can compensate abroad for whatever is
taken away at home.
8 Chief Justiciar of Eng~and. 9 Psalms 16.5.
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Letter 159: John to his Brother Richard
I shall plainly seem to be treating you unjustly, dearest
of all mortals, 1 it" I write to anyone else on my travels and
remain reticent towards you; for I am sure that you, with the
solicitude of a mother loved of God, are interested more than
the rest of men in my status. So, although at times there is
neither matter nor occasion to write anything, still I think
the very fact that there has not been matter or occasion for
writing should itself be the subJect of a letter to you. What
I have written to my lord Bishop2 will come to your attention
also, Just as you wiLl show his Excellency what I have written
to you. I want you to take his advice in everything that per-
tains to you, and to prefer his counsel to mine, both because
he is wiser than I am and because I am confident that he has
more of the grace of God, and excels me (whom he has always
loved with true charity) in merit as he does in authority.
What I would have written him, except that I had only little
news of prime importance, do you in my name bring him to see.
I hope the Holy Ghost will persuade him too, ror He does not
permit those who hope in Him to be berert of the solace of good
l John writes to his brother Richard, wno is at this time still in England. He rejoined John later in the year (1166). Cf. Letter 1'76 in Millor's edition.
2 Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter from 1161 to 1184. Cf. Letters 1361 1:;3.
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counsel in their hour of' need. My message is this, that in
this conflict of might against right he proceed with such
moderation in the path of law, guided by grace and helped by
reason, that he neither seem guilty of rashness against the
power that is ordained of' God, 3 nor from rear or power or love
of perishable possessions consent to evil to the subJugation
or the church. For if he shou.Ld do so he would be held, to
the ruin or both his present and ruture possessions, not only
as a deserter o1· duty and a trei tor to his profession, but even
as an opponent of Justice. Perhaps you wi~l say that--and this
is true of anyone--it is easier for me to prescribe in words
what should be done than to fulfill in action what has been
prescribed. The book to be eaten4 is sweet in the mouth of the
prophet, but it grows bitter when it is within him. The
OratorS also teaches in the art of speaking that it is very
to g~ve rules and to speak about art, but a very difficult
thing to speak conrormably to that art; that is, to t'ol.Low the
rules you have given. But nowhere is this more dirficult than
in the art or living; tor this is the art or arts indeed, and
incomparab~y transce-nds all other arts in dirticulty as it does
in value. You will probab.Ly bring up that saying of our Comic
3 cr. Romans 13.1. 4 Cf. Apocalypse 10.9. 5 Cicero, wno in tne De Inventione .L.6, says 11
••• oratori minimum est de arte loqui •.•.• ; multo maximum ex arte dicere ••• "
102
Poet6 too: "When you're well, it's easy to give sound advice
to a sick man. Take my place and you'll think differently."
~~y answer is that although I do not know how, or am unable, to
observe the golden mean which I prescribe, still I will freely
foLlow the lyric poet,7 pl.aying "a whetstone's part, which make
steel sharp, but or itse.L1' cannot cut." For my part, however,
I am uneasy, not because I have any misgivings (God Knows) or·
so great and sincere a fr,ther, but because in time or- danger
the charity ot' a !'rlend cannot help being aroused. I know the
weakness or the church and the importunity ot' her very powerful
persecutors, even though my .Lord pope8 has made a considerable
recovery and is now strengthened in the Lord. I know too the
faint-heartedness or· some bishops and the envy or others, and
I r·ear nothing more than that his innocence may be endangered
among "ralse brethren"9 and "them that seemed to be some
thing".LO and are eminent in positions of influence and pretend
ed .Learning anu rank. Even the leaders who were foremost in
Israel by their or fice and qualifications, Moses and Aar:m,
rel.i berore the onset or the multitude at the "Waters or Con-
6 Terence, Andria 2.1.9; from the translation by John Sargeaunt in the Loeb Classical. Library; Terence (2 vol.umes), London, Heinemann, .1926.
7 Horace, Ars Poetica 304-5; from the trans.Lation by H. Rushton Fairc.Lough in Loeb Classical Library; Horace: Satires, ~istles, and Are Poetica, London, Heinemann, .1929.
8 Alexander III. 9 cr. Corinthians 2 • .Ll..2b.
10 Ga.Latians 2.2, b.
.103
tradiction,".L.l and rort'eited their entry into the Land or
promise. It ls rumored here that the English bisho;>s have as
semb.Led several times to deliberate and decide what should be
done. But what, I ask, will they really do except disturb
themselves in their anxiety, and this beyond measure? 'What de
cision will they arrive at, except that they have preferred to
yield shamelessly rather than resist injuries like men? Vfuat
will they really decide, except that injustice is the supreme
master, and that they themselves are not announcing life to
sinners nor showing them the way or God? I have not said this
from any wish to persuade His Excellency to "strike out against
the torrent,"l2 or to take a reckless stand against the multi
tude and expose his church to danger and hardship: Rather
have I spoken that he may imitate wh.at we read go.)d men have
done, as Chusai the Arachite, who took pains to advise re
strc-:int and put aside the evil counsel of Achi tophel, 13 and
acquitted himself' still more raithful.Ly toward Absolon in
this, that he removed from him the matter of sin, and fore-
stalled an occasion of parricide. Surely you do not deem
those loyal who open the ways of' sin for my lord King14 and
who are anxious for him to succeed in what is being rashly
11 Cf. Numbers 20.13. 12 Juvenal 4.90; from the translation by G. G. Ramsay in Loeb
Classical Library; Juvenal and Persius, London, Heinemann, .13 c.L~?0~i 1 1 14 Hen ~ s 2 "1 • •
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104
undertaken against the justice of God? Which one seems to you
the more loyal; he who cJmmits faults at the bidding of one who
has gone astray, or he who counteracts pleasures that are harm-
ful? No matter what others may thlnk, I will never judge faith
ful to his lord or !"riend a man who so caters to the other's
pleasure that he does injury to his salvation and lire. Or do
you think that Doeg the Edomite was faithful to Saul, 15 when he
slew the priests of the Lord with the sword with which he was
presently to run himself through; or that Absolon had a friend
in Achitophel,l6 at whose suggestion he openly committed incest
with his father's wives and determined to commit parricide?
They say (and I hope it is untrue) that my lord bishop of Lon
don17 and that friend of mine, the bishop of Chichester, 18 are
arming henchmen of iniquity against the church; that they thirst
tor the blood of tne archbishop of Canterbury, and that their
one purpose is that his recall may never be permitted. Have
they no fear that savagery may grow mild, or (to borrow from
Cicero) "that Caesar's auctions may fall flat," 19 or his sword
15 Cf. Kings 1.22.18. JOhn writes Doeth for the Vulgate Ddeg. 16 cr. Kings 2.16.~1. 17 Gilbert Foliot, bishop of' London 1163-1188. Cr.Letters 144,153 18 Hilary, bishop or Chichester 1147-1169. Cf.Letters 144, 145. 19 Cicero, Epistolae ad Familiares 9.10; from the translation by
W. Glynn Wil.liams in Loeb Classical Library; Cicero: Letters to His Friends (3 volumes) London, Heinemann, 1928. The Latin, however, employs a play on. words which is not reflected in the translation, since the word "spear" (hasta) is used ror "auction," much as "hammer" is in English.
r 105
be dulled? But I really think this tale is a mere rumor, tho
many do not; such great and wise priests would not do evil,
especiaLly since they themselves know that if iniquity prevails
"Upon their own head will the punishment falJ.." 20 They cannot
fail to see that from the reed which has been raised to be a
king there has come out !'ire which "devours the cedars of
Libanus.u2l Farewell, and be careful to remember me to those
you know should be remembered; and remember me to mother with
especial affection. Beg prayers for me, that the Lord may not
permit me to wander from His path, but that according to His
good pleasure He may lead me through good t'ortune or bad, after
overcoming the affections ot· the flesh and all vices, and may
bring me to where, rejoicing in HiM, I may despise my baser
nature and sympathise with the unrortunate men who are now
vainly occupied with pillaging the church's property and my
own.
20 Ovid, Are Amoris 1.340; from the translation by J. H. Mozley in Loeb Classicel Library; Ovid: The Art or· Love and Other Poems, London, Heinemann, 1929. JOhn adapts the line from "upon thine own head" to "upon their own head, etc."
21 Judges 9.15.
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Letter iOO: John to Archdeacon Baldwin of Exeter
Although I am beholden to your1 interest in me ror a long
time past, still your solicitudP-, less recurrent than uninter
rupted, places me daiiy under greater obligations to you. Who
would not be won by a loyalty that is untired and untiring in
adversity? And whose heart would not be enkindled and inf'lamed
by a charity which is incorrupt, prompt, and outstanding in the
perils and the 11 f'ining-pot" 2 or temptation? J'~ow much of' what I
commend in you I have experienced in my own case, but I am ex
periencing still more in the case or my brother.3 The reason
is that I consider his lot harsher than my own; for although
the two of us hold all our possessions in common and our con-
dition is thus one and the same, yet he bears a harder exile
who is in exile at home. Just as it is a glorious thing to
flourish in one's own city, and pieasant to gein renown in
one's homeland, so to be in want or to become poor emong one's
own people is wretched, for there is less cause f'or embarrass-
ment if' one begs among strengers. In this adversity, however,
there is some advantage, or rather a great one, for each of us;
!'or through it we come to know the worid and ourselves more
i Baldwin, Archdeacon or Totnes from about libl to 1170, Abbot or Ford from about 1170 to 1180, Bishop ot· Worcester rrom il80 to 1184, and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1184 to 1190.
2 Proverbs 27.21. 3 Richard.
107
truly and thoroughly. We are learning at last what we had
heard long before, and what has been written many generations
ago: that a r-riend does not appear in prosperity, and an
enemy does not stay hidden in adversity. 4 And so it is, be
loved, that in this gusty storm each one lays aside the mask
he had put on, wipes away tne deceptive paint, and shows his
true face. Hence, since in what seems to be our tribulation I
see your love and loyalty still the same, and even brighter and
more luminous, it is right and just !'or me to praise it still
more, and to hope with many a sigh and an eager desire that I
may answer your cnarity worthily. But whi~e I do answer it in
my desire and arfection, God, Who "is charity,"5 will certainly
answer it in deeds, so that, according to Hie promise, He wiLl
pour back "good measure, snaken together and overflowing, into
your bosom.tl0 I have written to my lord bishop7 or my arfairs,
and you will learn of my circumstances more fully from him. I
beg you, then, to help me in my exile by your own prayers and
those or the saints that are with you,8 lest my raith rail, or
I do anything in this stormy blast to offend the Lord; that, as
is His way, "He wilL make also with the temptation iseue."9
4 C!'. Ecclesiasticus 12.8. 5 John 1.4.9. 6 Luke 6 .38. 7 Bartholomew, Bishop or Exeter !'rom llb.L to 1184. Cr. Letters
136' 153, 159. 8 Cf. Romans 16.1~. 9 Corinthians 1.10.15.
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108
Indeed, He has already begun, ror He has granted me consolation
commensurate with what I must enaure ror justice's sake, and
has softened the bitterness of my exile; it is certain~y easier
now than it was on the first day. Have I ever wanted ror any
thing? Have I not more friends and intimates now, and men who
prove the love they proress by making an open display or favors
and attentions? They certain~y bring, in proof or their love,
"a testimony greater than that or John, 1110 for the works which
they do give testimony ot them.
~0 John 5.36. Confer the same verse ror the remainder ot' this sentence. Perhaps a play on John or Salisbury's own name is imp~ied as well.
109
Letter 161: John to Roger or Sudburx
To Roger or Sudbury, 1 John sends greetings and the hope
that all other blessings are happiiy accruing to the desired
fruit or this one, without let or hindrance rrom anyone out-
r..Lying, tripping, or outstripping him.
I have hopes, dearest friend, that my wish in this matter
wiii be easily verified, uniess perhaps Richard OI Sudbury, 2 in
the rlush of youth, is taking away the palm rrom your earnest
painstaking. Should this have entered his mind, may God give
him such happiness and Joy that he wili be rorced to smile in
good grace, and give way in whatever his youthrul presumption
had p.Lanned to carry off rrom you •. Nevertheless, ir he imi-
tates his rather in this, or even in something which may seem
to border on a fault, let us and those like us, who are older
and more advanced, correct him "in the spirit of meekness,"3
stopping to think whether we ourselves have ever been teEJ.pted
to similar action. Shouldn't we be indulgent toward a boy if
he trip once at night on a slippery path, when even "the just
man falls seven times"4 a day? What if he had gone off where
1 Perhaps the man who later became archdeacon of Barnstaple from 1180 to 1186. It iA clear that he was connected with the clergy of Exeter, from his mention in Letter 146.
2 Apparently the son or younger brother of Roger. 3 Galatians 6.1. 4 Proverbs 24.16.
r----------------------------------------~ 110
no one else had gone? I!' a mother "no longer remembereth the
anguish, !'or joy that a man is born into the world,"? why will
a rather feel the pangs of birth afterwards? Let him be pun
ished only this much, then: up to a predetermined day he shall
not be permitted to intone your "Benedicite"6 unless he has ob-
tGined your pard·::m--provided, or course, that he share in the
fruit of the benediction. In cDnclusion, let me thank you for
the love and respect you are showing my brother7 and myself. .I
look on what is done for him as done for me, so much so that in
his person I consider that "my own sides have been warmed"C5
with the rleece of your sheep.
5 John lb.21. 6 The first word of the Latin formula for graces before meals,
according to the Roman Breviary. 7 R~chard, who was then residing at Exeter. cr. Letter 143. 8 Job 31.20.
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111
Letter 162: John to Alured or Chard
Your goodness1 lays on me a debt of gratitude that is all
the heavier for being prompted by the sincere and fervent
charity with which you have had compassion on me in my exile.
And this is especially so, since you were under no previous
obiigation to me, although I have always wanted to obLige you.
Inasmuch as I am in exile at present, and cannot repay your
kindness, I dedicate myself in the interim to your service with
all eagerness, and., God willing, I shall sometime be able to
put my ready devotion to the proof. God, however, will certain
iy repay your kind offices of charity; and although He has
withdrawn rrom me the power of repaying, yet He Whose hand is
neither destitute nor greedy nor powerless will requite your
benevolence as beseems Himself, pouring back in rich mercy
"good measure, shaken together and running over, into your
bosom.tt2
1 Alured of Chard, or Somerset, who belonged to the clergy or Exeter. Conr-er Letters 91 and 92 of Millor's edition, where an Aiured of Chard is mentioned, though in a different tone.
2 Luke 6.38.
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Letter .163: John to His Halr-Brother Robert
I must begin by expressing my thanks, unless I would
willingly stain both my conscience and my good name by in
gratitude. You1 have merited this gratitude time and time
again in my own regard to a great extent, but most of all in
the person of our young brother, 2 whose wants you are reported
to be supplying, taking them on as your own and inspiring
others to eupp.ly them also. You know, surely, the words of
the apostle Peter: It' anyone "suffers as a Christian, let him
not be ashamed, but let him glorify God,"3 for "this is thank
worthy ber-ore Him."4 You may be sure too, I think, that this
11tt.1e brother of ours is not "suffering as a murderer, or a
thief, or a railer, or a coveter of other men's thinge."5 This
fact itself, eo I hear, is coming to the knowledge of others
through your erforts, to our own consolation, of course, but
also to the g.Lory and salvation of them who are showing him the
ofrices or human kindness. As long as my means, while in
exile, will allow nothing else, you have my sincere and af
fectionate thanks; and at some time, God willing, I will be
1 Robert, son or Gille, appears from the letter to have been a ha1r-brother of John. He is identir~ed with the Robert who succeeded Baldwin as archdeacon of Totnes from 11'(0 to 1185 or .L18b. cr. Letter 146.
2 Cf. Letter lbl. 3 Peter 1.4.16. 4 Peter 1.2.20. 5 Peter 1.4.15.
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113
able to show you in actions how sincere those thanks are. I
beg you, then, to persevere laudably in the kindness you have
shown my brother, for what has been taKen from our own power
will be made up to you by Him Who rewards all good men.
!.1'arewe.L1.
114
Letter 164: John to Haster Gerard Pucelle
Although your Excellency1 has not written in reply to my
Letter, stiLL, as I cannot restrain my enthusiasm for my
rriends and for the defense of' justice, so I have not been able
to refrain from putting pen to paper when occasion orrers. I
would perhaps write more touching on our condition (the condi
tion, that is, ot· the English church), except that I suppose
our common !·ather, my lord or Canterbury, 2 has already written
back to you in some detail in this regard. Passing on, then, t
other matters, I give thanks to God r·irst or all, Who beyond
all my deserts and contrary to them, has given me consolation
in all my troubles, and has turned every snare o!· my adver-
saries to His glory and my own advantage. What price ought I
to pLace on Literary pursuits, merchandising in virtue,3 and
the experience derived from those who think correctLy--! mean
ror the sake or those who suffer innocently and in the defense
or raith and justice? I really congratulate you on your good
rortune, as I hear that by the Lord's grace you have found
ravor among the enemies of the church,4 so that you have all
the temporal goods necessary to carry on your activities. I
L Gerard Pucelle, one ot· the "learned rriends or St. Thomas" enumerated by Herbert or Bosham. He later became Bishop of Coventry rrom 1183 to LLH4.
2 Archbishop Thomas. 3 cr. Matthew 13.45. 4 That is, among the schismatics of Cologne.
115
hear also that you have a great reputation for learning and
virtue in that same quarter, so that whatever you in your pru
dence decree is counted sacrosanct among the barbarians there.5
What I prize most or all, however, is this, that you have
"hated the assembly or the malignant"b and, as I hear, you are
speaKing and writing the truth for the Faith against the
sc.hi sma tics publicly, with full r·reedom or conscience in the
strength of the Holy Spirit; assuredly, "Where the Spirit of
God is, there is liberty."7 FOthing becomes a philosopher more
than the open profession of truth, respect for justice, con-
tempt of the world, and, when necessary, love of poverty. We
read that philosophers have freely despised riches and thrown
them away because they were impediments to virtue; but it has
never yet been heard that any one of t~em, even a~ong the gen
tiles, preferred wealth to truthfulness. The precepts of the
whole pagan ethical system, as a matter of fact, have this
force and purpose: to keep in check and to subject to reason
the passions of the carnal appetites which they cannot wholly
extinguish. ShJuld this gift be granted anyone rrom above,
(for unaided nature cannot achieve it), there is no doubt that
such a man is walking the true philosopher's path to life, to
5 Gerard had gone to Cologne early in 1166; the letter appears to have been written shortly afterward.
6 Psalms 25.5. 7 Corinthians 2.3.17.
116
"see good days 11 8 without end. The more a man advances in this
direction, the more close he draws to true philosophy. Since,
then, I am conrident that you have a true philosopher's de-
termination, I beg, warn, and counsel you in every way to call
back with all zeal the erring from their schism, that they may
put God before men and not let themselves be separe,ted from
the body ot· Christ thr:>ugh fear of the emperor9 or the machina
tions or the schismatic or Cologne. 10 It may be, you know,
that God has directed you to these barbarians to effect the
salvation of many of them. In my opinion, this schism should
not be approached in a contentious spirit, but should be put
down with quiet restraint, especially on the part of a wise
man who remembers that wisdom's moderation "ordereth all things
sweetly from end to end." 11 Apart from this, I do not think
that any least communication should be held with the obstinate,
remembering that Zorobabel, 12 whose figure you bear' (and whose
name is translated "chief" or "master" of Babylon13), did not
permit the enemies of Juda and Benjamin to unite their offer
ings with those of the children of Israel, not even to rebuild
8 Psalms 33.13. 9 ~redrick Barbarossa.
10 Rainold or Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne from 1159 to 1167. He had been the chancellor of Fredrick Barbarossa, and was the leading spirit of' the schism against Alexander III. Cf. Letter 144.
11 Cf. Wisdom 8.1. John abridges and inverts the verse.
±3 ~bisEa~~~!a£i~n3is from st. Jerome. Cf. his work De Naminibus Re'5raeo .• in :Mip;ne~ Patrolog_a .Latj,na voJ.ume 2r.
r --------------------------------------------------~ 117
the house or the Lord. So much for this. In conclusion, let
me entreat you again to send your devoted correspondent some
thing from the relics of the Kings and the Virgins, 14 together
with your testimonial letter. Farewell.
14 Relics or the Magi, and of St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins, tra.nsferred to Cologne by Archbishop Rainold from Milan after the capture of that city by Barbarossa in li62. The letter mentioned would be the customary attestation to the authenticity or the relics.
~~----------------------------------~ 118
Letter 165t John to Ralph de Bello Monte
The title to true piety is shown by no truer token than
when it comes mercifully to the aid of those who are bereft of
human solace, and who are persecuted without reason by a world
displeasing to God. I C')ngratulate you, 1 therefore, on having
attained this title, and rejoice that you are practising works
or piety which surpass the common and almost universal expecta-
tion. ~~oreover, I do not mean to say that your efforts are
propped up by any worldly philosophy, but rather by the fire or
the Holy Spirit, kindling and enlightening your mind to true
wisdom. I am happy, too, because, as I have learned from the
bearer or this letter, you as a true Christian have dared in
the midst of charity's assailants to remember the brotherhood
which is in the Lord. And how comes it, Ralpn, particularly
when those "who seemed to be pillars" 2 of the church are
trembling, and the giants who should have carried the world are
letting themselves sink in the flood without a groan? The Lord
commanded "the clouds to rain no rain 11 3 in those parts, and yet
in that very region you have not hesitated, in the dew of
divine grace, to grow fruits of mercy and the works or the
Savior. I had believed that you certainly had the tongue or a
l Ralph de Bello Monte, or Beaumont, physician of Henry II. 2 Galatians 2.9. 3 Isaias 5.6.
l.L9
philosopher, but not his spirit. Now, however, I recall that
you are to some extent a disciple of the great Aristippus,4 who
experienced every circumstance of life imperturbably, and was
wont to look philosophicalLy even on tri!'les, remaining
pleasant towards all and severe to none. He was once asked
what good philosophy had d~ne him, and is said to have answered
"It enabled me to converse i'earlessly with al.l men. 11 5 Con-
sequently, then, I think you are to be more entirely trusted,
because you yourself do not lose hope in the kingdom or Christ.
In this hope, I ask you to remember to aid. the bearer of this
letter, as you have already begun to do, seeing God and Eis
service in this man's needs. You may be certain that if he
cared as much ror literature in my service as he does tor
ralconry and the trillings or c~urt life in yours, I would be
very willing to provide all his needs. Farewell.
4 A Greek philosopher of Cyrene, pupil or Socrates and a leader of the Cyrenaic school; he .Lived rrom about 425 B.C. to about 366 B.C.
5 Cr. Apuleius, Floridorum 4.23.2.
120
Letter 166: John to Archdeacon Richard Ilcheeter of' Poitiers
1 In your prudence you will remember with what high hopes
I left you, after you had eo sincerely encouraged me by sug
gesting a way to peace and reconciliation. 2 Since I have not
yet learned how near your loyal promise is to its realization,
I beg you, as you have hitherto lert me wavering uncertainly,
not without a considerable expense or time and supplies, please
to deliver me finally from this state or anxiety and make me
ror the ruture ever obliged to you and yours. If, as a matter
of ract, it be safe to return, I am ready to give my lord King3
entire satisfaction wherever I cannot plead my innocence. Per-
haps the confusion due to the clash of arms has kept you from
dealing with this matter before now, or perhaps the domestic
foe with whom I can never have peace, if so it be.4 For he did
no injury before he had promised friendship and fealty imd rich
preferments. I beg you, then, to indicate now the extent of my
hopes, and what course I should take if another one is now
preferable to the one rirst suggested. If I shall be able to
return in any way at all, make arrangements for my sat·e passage
1 Richard Ilchester, archdeacon of Poitiers. Cf. Letters 144, 153, 158.
2 Referring apparently to negotiations berore John's meeting with Henry II at Angers, May 1, 116b. Cf. Letter 168.
3 Henry II. 4 This seems to refer to an enemy of John's in the court of
Poi tiers.
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121
through Kent, and do not rorget the threats and tne information
I mentioned to you whi~e at Paris.
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122
Letter 167: John to ?Jaster Ralph or Lisieux
Your1 letter brought me equal joy and sorrow, but I had
recourse in meditation to Him 11 'Nho comforteth us in all our
tribulation," 2 and thus turned aside easily and quickly the
stings or desolation. The reason for this is that, by God's
favor, "my ship is in haven,"3 and He Who knows not how to fail
those who hope in Him is providing plentifully for me beyond
and contrary to my deserts, and is providing also (though I do
not say it without rear ot the divine judgment) what is neces
sary ror His glory. To be truthful, it' my merits be examined
I am unworthy to "surrer for Justice's sake, for or such, 11 as
you know, "is the kingdom or heaven." 4 God and my conscience
bear witness that I ha,re forfeited thl.s because or my many
serious sins, even though the world may think otherwise. Stil
I am given license to hope by Him Who chooses the base and the
weak,~ and has allowed me to profess the liberty or the church,
advance the claims or Justice, and bear witness to the law
which states that the faithful need fear neither exile nor pro-
scription ror its sake, as long as it prevails. You have at
1 Ralph or Lisieux, associated with Canterbury and one or the administrators or Arcllbishop Theobald's will. Cf. Letter 168, and Letter 134 or :MiLL or's edition.
2 Corinthians 2.1.4. 3 Terence, Andria 480. For the translation, cr. Letter 159,
note 6. 4 Matthew ~.10. 5 Cf. Corinthians 1.1.2e.
123
hand all the particulars of my case; you know the substance of
the oaths demanded of me, too, so that there is no need to
delay over any detailed explanation in this regard. But per-
haps you will tell me that no one will be obliged to swear in
the words of th~se reprobate customs;6 that he who exacts the
oath will be content with a brief and absolute pledge of in
violate loyalty to himself, so phrased that there will be no
clause guaranteeing ridelity to the church or obedience to
prelates; the reason being, as they say, that he neither wants
nor has wanted to be prejudicial to these persons, since the
oath is not demanded of them. B1..lt now, if he be not prejudiced
why may one not make mention of an observance necessary to sal
vation? And if he is prejudiced against the church's prelates,
with what sort of' conscience can this oath be taken by the
faithful? "It is the acivice of the wise, 11 you say, "both in
the interests of peace and avoidance of all suspici·Jn, as well
as to procure supplies ror necessary activities, that each man
be ready to serve his kinsmen and friends. 11 For the favor,
then, of friends and of triflers who have deserted me in ad-
verslty, should I turn from the Father of mercies, Who has con
soled me and now "consoles us in all our tribulation, u7 or
rather, does not even allow us to recoe;nize it as tribulation?
6 The Constitutions of Clarendon. 7 Corinthians 2.1.4.
124
Others urge me to take the oath, but He counsels me not to:
,~,hom do you think I should believe? I certainly think that the
advice or the God Who became incarnate and died for me is more
reliab~e and salutary; and I wi~l not be slow to recognize
"the hardened brow"8 of a man who has advanced his own inter-
ests for personel reasons. TO pass over the other well-known
impo;rtant reasons for my exlle and proscription, therefore, I
am proscribed because I believed Cnrist when He advised ageinst
my taking oaths.9 ~;hoever does not believe Him wi~l be pro-
scribed in far more dangerous wise, for He is as true to His
threats as He is to His promises. Still, even though it pro
ceeds from evil, 10 I do not say that every oath is illicit.
Sometimes it is pardonable, but on~y when the circumstances or
tne case win pardon for the fault involved. I pass over this
possibility, leaving it rPther to God and the conscience of the
individual. If I should weave some rather suttle argument, as
reason suggests, I might seem to have wasted my breath to
taunt others, perhaps, innocent, who have taken the oath. I
had rather put a temperate restraint upon my pen than to heap
up citations t'rom the divine law which, even though correctly
interpreted, sometimes on~y injure those wno hear it. I turn,
8 Juvenal 13.242. For the translation cf. Letter 159, note 12 9 Cf. l1atthew ~-34.
10 Cf. ;.,ra tthew 5. 37.
125
therefore, to other subjects, praying, begging, and beseeching
"that thy faith fal.l thee not,"11 and that you will not trust
the spirit of those who follow their own Neptune,l2 and guided
by him hurry to Pluto and ttgo down alive into hell. "1 3 For
the time being, let them say whatever they wish. Let them
boast in their vainglory that they have prevailed against the
anointed or the Lord; close at hand is the destruction of those
whose ttjoy" is "but for a moment," 14 and whose blaze of "glory
is dung and worms."1 5 With God's assistance, you will soon
know how this shall be done, and those to whom Christ's poor
were a scorn and a mockery will feel their ears tingle with the
scorn and the shouts of the faithful. And, unless you are per
suaded perhaps that mortals do not die, you need have no doubt
that those who seem to have escaped the snare they deserve for
deceitful silence and crafty falsification, will really be put
under sentence or anathema. Please remember to assure my
friends of this--that is, if any friends are actually mine and
not fortune's. Tell them not to weep for me {and I hope they
have no cause to weep ror themselves), for the All-High has
ll Luke 22.32. 12 Referring probably to Rainold of Dassel, Archbishop of
Cologne and leading spirit of the schism against Alexander III; cf. Letter lb4. The rererence may also be to Barbarossa himself, or even to Henry II as opposing ecclesiastical authority.
13 Numbers lb.3Q. 14 Job 20.5. 15 Machabees 1.2.62.
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126
fina.L.ly withdrawn His scourge and is dealing with me as an in-
du.Lgent father with his ravorite son. You, however, have my
sympathy, for you have found less security in port than in
shipwreck. But i!' God grants you patience for only a short
time, the shipwrecked brethren ror whom all hope was lost will
very soon (I dec.Lare it unhesitatingly) be ab.Le and eager to
come to your aid. Stay, then, in the state 11 in which you have
been calledul6 by the Lord. Stand out and a!'firrn His .Law, at
least as !'ar as you can without danger. In view or the weak-
ness or our f.Lesh, it is natura.L enough !or me to say this,
ror the blessed apostle.L7 and the whole court or heaven bear
witness that only he can be saved who puts the observance of
the law above all dangers. I wrote to the man about whom you
are worried, and I think you will receive news through the
bearer of this letter from the man himself about his circum-
stances, which, by God'·s grace, are good. Give a warm greet-
ing to my friends. I am sure that, through my repeated re-
quests, their names have been impressed on the mind or the
bearer as though transferred directly from a written page.
Farewell •
.L6 Corinthians .1.7.20. 17 Cr. Corinthians 2.11.26.
12'7
Letter 168: John to ~·Jaster Georfr~ of St. Edmunds
On Easter Sunday~ I went to Angers to make my peace with
the King. 2 Before he received the body of the Lord I took good
care to effect your3 son Richard's4 reconciliation with him
through the abbot or St. Victor or Paris5 and other religious.
Other friends interceded too, in whose reliability at court I
had set great store. I had earlier enlisted the aid or Master
Walter de l'Isle6 in this, an excellent man and a dear friend
of mine in his own right, and through him of a number of others
whose loyalty I thought was rirmly founded. The king, in his
reverence ror God and his respect for the mediators, replied
quite amicabiy; but when he heard that the title of St. Ed
munds'( was involved, he summo~ed William or Hastings8 and asked
him ror a full report, to avoid any misrepresentation. As far
as he was able and as far as he dared, Master William present-
ed our case quite ravorabiy. Thereupon his majesty had the la
l April 24, 1166. On Low Sunday, a week later, John together with Herbert Basham and Philip or Calne presented themselves before Henry II at Angers, but only Philip or Calne succeede in being reconciled. CI·. Fitz Stephen's life of St. Thomas in Robertson, Becket ·Materia~s 3.99.
2 Henry II. 3 ~,W.ster Georfrey or St. Edmunds, a kinsman or John. Cf. Let-
ter 106 in Millar's edition. 4 Cf. Letter 138. 5 Ernisius, Abbot of st. Victor, Paris. 6 Custodian or the King's Seal and Vice-chancellor. 7 A Benedictine abbey at Bury St. Edmunds, Su!'folk. 8 One or the signatories to the Constitutions ot· Clarendon.
128
summoned, to receive his letters of reconciliation in person
end bring them back to the royai officials, so that there
might be no question ot his return to ravor. I returned, ac-
cordingly, and sent the boy quicKly, as God wished and our
needs demanded, to ~.[aster Walter de i'Isie. !:!ay Christ, Who
rounded the church, repay this man's faith and the charity he
has shown us. In faith and love for Him, as conscience is my
witness, I am gladly bearing losses, injuries, insults, and
exiie, whenever there is need; ror I am sure that "God is
raithful, l~!ho wiii not surfer you to be tempted above that
which you are abie,"9 but out or the very temptation He wiil
draw profit for your salvation and puri1'1.cation ror y;)ur past
lire. I am speaking for myself, and ror some others whom I
know reJoice in all this tribulation often to consider and
tei.l Him, "According to the multitude or my sorrows in my
heart, thy comforts have given Joy to my sou1." 10 By God's
grace we suffer, not as adulterers or murderers, 11 not as
arsonists or committers ot· sacrilege, 12 but as Christians.
The worJ.d counts this t·aith or ours rolly, and constancy there-
in, stubbornness; they brand the proression or truth with the
name and note ot· vanity, and try to sui.ly religion by calling
9 Cor~nthians .l • .lO.i3. 10 Psal.ms 93.19. 11 Ct. Peter 1.4.i?. 12 Cf. Romans 2.22.
129
it hypocrisy, superstition, or some other falsehood. But the
prince of apostles tr1inks otherwise, and tet-. che s the contrary:
"For this, 11 he says, "is thankworthy before God; for unto this
you are called by Christ ••• that you should follow His steps." 1 3
11 l3ut if also you suffer anything for justice's sake, blessed
are ye. 1114 S)on, dear friend, soon the judge ot' men's con
sciences will be here to give each one what he has deserved.
Then the hidden purposes or each man's life will be made clear,
no matter what the world may prate of now. In the meanwhile,
please ask help t'or me by your own prayers and those or the
holy men of your acquaintance, so that if I am "where there is
no passing" 15 (though I do not think I am), Christ, the r-:ray of
the just, may bring me back to t.he Way which is Himself; 16 and
that if I am on the we.y, He may bring me to life through sue-
cess or failure, whatever be His good pleasure. If you see
:'.!aster "!!alter, thank him as fervently as you can, personally
and through your friends, especially Count Geoffrey, 17 tor whom
he has a high esteem. If you have an opportunity, receive him
and have others receive him as an angel or the Lord; 18 tor, in
my opinion, he is himselr a minister of' God, and at court he
13 Peter 1.2.ao. 14 Peter 1.3.14. 15 Psalms 106.§0 16 cr. John 14.6. 17 Geofrrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, died in 1167. 18 Ct'. Galatians 4.14.
130
consoles Christ's members in as many ways as possible. He will
be able to give some estimate of the mediators your boy has
found, and or what my present condition is. I hope you will
lay the blame on my ill fortune and not on myself, that I
could not show him any further kindness; may he soon find bet
ter friends! I helped him as much as circumstances would al
low. I hear that :~,laster ,..alter is bound by oath not to receive
letters or messengers from those in exile. You can see from
this the vi.Le constraint w.l:.i..i.ch will not permit good men to ful
fill the precepts of the divine law, that is, the offices of
charity.
131
Letter L69: John to His Brother Richard
Were I not to include my Love and my prayers in the salu- .
tation or a. letter to you, L I would deservedLy seem to have pre
eLuded the happiness or my own weLL belng, 2 ror it cannot exist
without yours. When, then, in the vein or r·arniliar correspond-
ence my letterhead offers no such salutation, it is not meant
to indicate any lack of charity or growth of faintheartedness
on my part, but rather a regard for your own difficult posi
ticJn. To satisfy my wishes for you, therefore, may the All
Hie:.h keep you wit.il a share in that health which the fruitf~l
Virgin ( wr10se heart I am conv lnced was and is wholly wi tnout
stain)3 wished fr:>r her Son with truest charity. Perhaps you
have been wondering along with ti1e crowd, or grieving with my
friends, because I did not accept the terms or recJncil1ation
which they say his Serenity the English king offered me, 4
especiaLly since better and more learned may n0t only have ac
cepted these terms, but have grasped at them eagerly. Remember
thoug~, that I was offered recJnciliation on the same terms
that Naas,5 (which is translated "serpent"6 ) of the sons of
1 John's brother Richard. Cf. preca:ln~ letters. 2 A play on the words "salutatio" and salus." 3 Apparently indicative of John's belief in the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception. 4 The peace terms offered by Henry II at Angers. Cf. Letter 168 5 cr. King§ 1.11.1. b Tnis interpretation and the following are taken from St.
Jerome's work De Nominibus Hebraicis. Cf. Migne, Pat~~ Latina voLume 23.
132
Amon, (that is, "straitening" or "confining" or "the peop.Le of
grier"), wanted to strike a treaty with the inhabitants of
Jabes, ("dried UlJ 11), in Galaad, (that is, a "flood of testimony'
"On this condition will I make a covenant with you,u7 he said,
"that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a re
proach" among all the sons and lands of Israel. I could have
regained what I think was unjustly taken from me, were I will
ing to count eternal values as wholly secondary and bind the
treedom or the spir.i..t by an evil and highly dangerous oath.
"Each one abounds in his own sense."8 I do not hesitate to
busy my right eye in looking at the things ot heaven, with
faith in what is not seen and hope in what is to come, and to
turn my left eye to things perishable and transitory and passed
by in a moment of time. Those other men have been graciously
received, and with God's help can be saved in the sincerity of
their faith; but I could not have met the required conditions,
as demanded, without impairing my salvation and my good name.
I turn to the Lord, therefore, and hope that "tomorrow, when
the sun shall be hot, there shall be relief"9 for me too; for
the Lord will reveal "the hidden things of darkness, and will
:nake manifest the counsels of the hearts," 10 and each man's
( Kings 1.11.2. 8 Romans 14.5. 9 Kings 1.11.9.
10 Corinthians 1.4.5.
133
justice or wrongdoing will return upon him. Even· though :-Jaae
with hie Ammonites, the people of grief and eons of Gehenna,
presses upon us during this week of days, yet Christ will
soon be here, and will be consoled in His elect, as now, for
the moment, He suffers with tnem. Be consoled, then, my be
loved; beloved, be consoled. For if you endure this for a
little while, their place shall not be fe>und, 11 tor "the wicked
shall vania!1 like smoke." 12 If this interval of waitine; tor-
tures you, however, depending on your own judgment and the ad
vice of' the Bishop, 13 you may turn "from the oppressor" 14 and
come to me. I:f this is your decision, I will embrace you on
y:)ur arrival with the open arms of charity; I will c.msider you
not only a partner in everything I ..t1ave, but as guardian and
mentor or myself and mine (as far as you will allow), and will
look on you, if you will permit the expression, with the arfec
tion due a father. you will learn the rest of the details
rrom other letters. Do not hesitate to send your own letters
through the usual channels. The French king15 and church have
shown our re11ow-exi1es many a kindness; I hope you will rind
your t'e llow-ci tizens and the household or the promised r·ai th16
11 Psalms 36.10. 12 Psalms 30.20. 13 Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter. Cf. Letters 136, 153, 159. 14 Isaias 19.20. 15 LOuis VII. 16 Cf. Galatians b.lO.
134
no less kind~ Though you have many brothers, still it' need
should require, you will find none or them more kind than I,
t·or none is closer to you by blood and none, to my mind, by
charity either. Remember me to my rriends, and urge the saints
to communicate to our necessities17 and to lighten them by
their intercession. ~Vlay the Al.t-High grant you the c 'Jntinual
happy fulfillment of your prayers.
17 Cf. Romans 12.13.
135
Letter 170: John to Bishop JOhn Belmeis of Poitiers
It is true that that mother of news, Dame Fortune, and
Rumor, tnat nurses and spreads stories true and imaginary, have
ushered in nothing worth telling or worth bringing tQ your1
attention; but even so, I have been forced to write because or
a gloomy report. It is by far the saddest thing I have heard
or seen, as God and my conscience are witness to my words,
since our good and, I hope, ever blessed lord and master2 de-
parted this lire. And I say this even though my lot has been
to be exposed tQ every danger and to be tossed about by one
stQrm arter another ever since the day the dispensation or
Providence toQk our lord and father away rrom us. And what is
this report? Some of my companions who are stopping at Paris
wrote t) me recently, saying that they had heard r·rom certain
rumormongers that you r~ve been forced to take to your bed
through an illness brought on, not by a natural happening or
any ordinary human mishap, but by villainous poisoners, who wer
somehow prompted to mix a toxic <taught !'or you and for a cer
tain religious.3 They even say that the relig~ous has already
died or it. Since I had long been hearing of the envy of some
of those who live with you, and know the cruelty of others
1 JOhn Belmeis, Bishop of Poitiers from 1162 to 1181, and Archbishop or Lyons rrom .t.tdl to .t.L93·
2 Archbishop Theobald or canterbury, who died April 18, 1161. 3 A prior, as Jonn says in the rollowing letter, 171.
(even now I recall the insolent ambition of not a few), I
reared, and do fear, and until the truth is more surely ascer-
tained wil.l continue to fear sorely that the devil and his
angels, who at present storm against the church almost at wilJ.,
have been permitted even to this extent to vent their fury
against good men. I was afraid earlier that the church hoJ.d-
ings W-)Uld be taken from you, that the wicked wouJ.d c-:>nfiscate
your property, and that they who deem lawful whatever they have . a fancy for would force even you to go into exi.le with the
!"ai thful sons or the church. But see how, of my two fears ror
the same .lord and friend, the greater is blacking out and quite
absorbing the other~ This strikes me just as though a sword
pierced my own heart, 4 as though ''my shoulder I·elJ. !'rom its
joint, and my arm with its b'Jnesu5 were crushed. ~.1y mind wi.ll
have no rest until I .learn the truth. I hope that your
Reverence wi.l.l be pleased to inform me or your condition with
all speed, for I shall be quite sick with anxiety until I near.
If you yourseJ.f have no time to answer this, though I hope you
wilL nave, I beg you to nave the master of the schools6 attend
to it with care and dispatch.
4 Cf. Luke 2. 35. 5 Job 31:22. 6 Raymond, the cnanceJ.lor or Poitiers. Cf. Letter 171.
J.37
Letter l.'( l.: JOhl} to ~Kaster Raymond, Chancellor of Poi tiers
There is a galling rumor that has been festering and try
ing me sorely, and will give me no rest until I learn by letter
rrom youl the true state of the matter whlch is worrying me.
Friends or mine at Paris have written that those who seek the
lire or my J.ord or Poitiers2 have empJ.oyed some persons and
some altogether cowardly and cursed trick to give him a
poisoned drink. They say that a certain prior3 who shared the
cup has already died, and that the bishop is in a state of
col.tapse. I was and am sick with fear, since I have heard that
certa~n persons are envious or· him, and that one or the bishops
or Poitiers was also recently despatched by poison. I do not
'know whether this rumor has any foundation, but I do know that
some men are so cruel that neither neighbor nor stranger can
rail to observe it. Everyone knows now overbearing, insoJ.ent,
and need .Less or the !'ear of God blind ambition is; and hence I
seem to have more reasons r·or dread than I or confidence. I
pray you, then, to write me a.L.! the news as quick.Ly as you can,
and to prevail on my lord bisnop, if he is not too il.L {which
heaven rorbict!) to write personal..Ly whatever seems timely. I
wanted to ask yourself and him to write to me what was said ror
l Raymond, chancellor of Poitiers under John Belrneis. 2 John 3elrneis. Cf. Letter 1'{0. 3 Apparently the same person referred to as "a certE in reli
gious" in the preceding letter.
138
and against me at the cont'erence of Chinon4 and afterwards, and
what you think of my absenting myself as I did, and refusing to
accept the reconciliation which the others accepted under the
oath and conditions imposed. I have not received any letters \
from you, you know, since that time. But this more urgent
reason which now brings me to write has absorbed all such wor-
ries. Even so, though, it' my lord bishop is in health and
safety (and may God grant it), I will be greatly obliged to re-
ceive an answer to those other questions. However (for I can-. not rid myself of the anxiety), if, as I have heard, my lord
bishop happens to be ill (and may God avert it~), take every I
means as a wise and prudent man to have him show himself a
Christian in this crisis, to await death, if need be, as a
priest of Christ, and with hie house in order to accept
patiently nature's last inevitable demand. I am confident in
our Lord Jesus Christ, that He ~no gave hlm the prudence to
pass safely through temporal prosperity will, at the end or his
C)urse, give him the grace to make his death an example to all
who must die, as his life has been a bright example to all who
lived with him. l\To argument will ever e:.ive a truer proor of
loyal faith and devotion than a man who makes it his aim and
e!'!'ort to help his beloved fellow exiles in the rlesh and pil-
grime of the Lord by spurring them on to virtue and giving out-
4 Held on June 1, 1166.
139
standing examples ot' good works, especially near the end or the
road, supporting and pushing them on with the two arms or
charitY as they pass across and ascend t0 Christ. If,·however,
through God 1 s mercy you are in happier circumstances, I beg
you earnestly to try every means to bring our interpreterS to
translate in his own style and correct what is left ot the
Hierarchies,6 one book of which he has already translated.
Those in France who saw what he already sent on are· quite well
pleased with it. I had intended to write more, but my haste
will not allow it.
-------5 John Sarrazin. 6 That is, Dionysius the pseudo-Arer:>pagi te 1 s
CeLestia1 and EcclesiasticaL Hierarchies. and Letter 233 in ;"!illor 1 s edition.
work Cn the cr. Letterl42,
140
Letter 172: John to Archdeacon Richard Ilchester of Poitiers
My thanks to your worship1 ror the letters which my ser
vant brought from you on his return. They bore many signs of
trust and charity, composed, as it seemed, in a spirit which
made each word and dotted "i" cry out unmistakably the.t it was
addressed to a friend in rich and sincere regard. But in your
letter, as in that of my lord bishop, 2 there were many subjects
which could cause anxiety to one who loves you--hopes for the
bishop's full recovery,3 for example, which had not yet come
about; what decisiJn had been reached in his reconciliation
with the king; 4 what mention was made of my own recall; and
many other matters in this vein, in which you have humored me
as your friend. For this reas::m I have dispatched the bearer
or this letter to you, to inform me through y,)ur letters, if
you will, about the matters mentioned above and whatever else
bears on your own circumstances or the public welfare. Follow
ing your advice, I have purposely sent a man who is known to f'e
or none among you, and who has proved loyal to myself and mine
in every way. He has been instructed to undertake the business
of ~[aster 'Walter, a cleric of my lord or Rheims, 5 to collect the
1 Richard Ilchester, archdeacon of Poitiers. Cf. Letters l44, 153, 158, .16b.
2 John Belmeis, Bishop of Poitiers. Cr. Letter 170. 3 In reference to the rumor that the bishop had been poisoned.
Cf. Letters 170, 171. A Henry II of England. 5 Henry of France, Archbishop or Rheims from 1162 to 1175.
141
books which this same Walter had .Lent to Master Peter Hely,6
and about which I spoke to you at Angers and submitted a memo
randum. As conditions require, you can now dea~ with him as a
page !'rom the house or the Archbishop or Rheims.'l I shall feel
a continued carking anxiety, however, that demands his speedy
return and will give my mind no rest until I learn something
about the above questions. If my lord bishop achieved the full
reconciliation which was hoped !'or, (and t'or the honor of God
and the church I very much hope he has), please let me know by
this messenger how the witnesses were chosen and what condi-
tiona were imposed. What I rear and, what is more, still fear
in every article of the conditions which have been proposed, is
quite clear from the letter I sent my lord bishop. -Even eo,
however, I think no one wise who would advise against a peace
wnicn is poseib~e in the Lord, and does not detract f'rom one's
renutation in the eyes or "man's day."8 I hope indeed that
there will be peace with clear conscience and unsullied name in
our day, but a peace which is neither pretended nor short-lived
3ut neither or these is in your power, for one depends on your
adversary9 and the other upon God. How he with whom you con-
duct business was wont to b~ess h:i.s friends and those who deal
6 The rhetorician who had taught John. Cr. John's ~.1etalog1con page 80, in Webb's edition.
7 The Archbishop ret' erred to as "my lord or Rheims" above. 8 Corinthians ~.4.3. 9 That is, Henry II.
142
with him, from the moment they submit to his will even to the
loss or their own reputation and conscience, is clear rrom many
examples. For this reason I consider it t·ar more dangerous
than unthinking men imagine, to Jetisson !'or his promises any
part or eonscience or reputation, which, once injured, cannot
be easily healed. \"7ounds in either one or· them are almost al-
ways fatal, so that they are spoken or almost more as a bodily
disease than a Judgment or the mind. The verdicts or this
Judge are more deadly than those that dissolve the union of
soul and body, as we hear even from one who, far from being a
Christian, is a heathen: "· •• Count it the greatest or all sins
to prefer life to honor, and to lose, ror the sake or living,
all that makes life worth having."10 With all the earnestness
in me, then, I beg you that it any steps are taken toward my
reconciliation, it come in a rorm in which there will be no
offense to God, and in which my reputation (which, I dare not
say I, but rather God, has so ffLr kept unstained t·or me) may
for the ruture too be kept untarnished in men's eyes. If such
a way can be round, I wi.ll thank God, and you, and everyone who
has worked I'::lr it. But ir there is question or oaths, my lord
bishop knows how delicate my conscience is in such matters.
Would I be ab.Le to swear, then, in the words which are pre-
10 From Juvenal 8.83-84. ~or the translation, cr. Letter 159, note 12.
143
scribed, or rather the words in which salvation is prescribed,
and which, so I near, is demanded or and given by others--when
it is permitted t~ make exception neither for God nor the law
nor one's order? 11 Who would take such an oath to observe im-
pious constitutions and laws that ignore or contravene the law
or God? Who but an unbeliever and scorfer or all the sacra-
ments? I would certainly think that a man who bound himself by
oath to observe tne sacred canons or even to follow the gospel
itself was much too rash and headstrong, and 'Was throwing him-
self into a thousand snares or damnation; unless, perhaps, he
be greater than he who in the consciousness of his own weaKness
and in witness o:r our own humbly admits that "in many things we
al.J. orfend.".J.2 If the question or my past conduct should be
brought up, I do not deny that I have given the Archbishop of
Canterbury13 the loyal service due him as my lord and father;
I only wish that I had offered it with greater errect. With
GOd's help, no gain or loss whatever shall induce me to deny.or
abJure my master, whoever he be, and thus soil my life, and
even the very memory or my good name and my people, ba:nre G-od
and man. =~~any people tell me, however, that ir I do not do
11 In reference to the 11 saving clause 11 (i.e., "saving our order") with which Archbishop Thomas and the other English bishops were prepared to promise observance ot the Consti tutions or Clarendon. Cr. Cambridge I'~edieva.J. H~story 5.558.
12 James 3.2. 13 Thomas Becket.
144
this and conrorm to the conditions mentioned above, reconcilia
tion wil.L be very dir !·icul t or ii!1poss1 ble. P .Lease take great
care, therefore, you and my lord bishop, that ir· my reca.L.L is
arranged, any unjust and. dangerous conditions wi.Ll be with
drawn. I, in turn, in everything possible without danger to
my salvation and good name, wiJ..L rollow the advice of' my lord
bishop and yourself, wherever it does not contradict his. I
would not wish to set out for the court to make my peace, how
ever, unless I were to have some acquaintance Wltn the terms
of it berorehand. The reason is that my straitened domestic
circumstances and my correspondence, which brings me both
solace and subsidy, allow neither great expense nor long
absence. :,iy means are more slender than usual, but my ot,.Liga
tione are no fewer. Help is growing more inrrequent, though it
has been very infrequent from the outset. on my trip to Angers
and at the king's Easter conference14 I spent thirteen pounds
and lost two reserved for my retinue, not to mention the work,
annoyances, and delays ~t court. And what pains me more, it
was all for nothing. Both the ef!'ort and the expense were
thrown away. If.possible, I do not want to incur another such
outlay of time and money. You will be able to learn of my
present circumstances in part from the bearer of this letter;
there has not been much change. I nave not lost hope for my
14 APril 24 and ~Jay l, 1166. Cf. Letter 168.
145
lord or Canterbury's cause, for he himself' is doing penance ror
what he did at court, and has not lost hope in the Lord; nor,
to my mind, is he "making rlesh nis arm. 15 I think myself,
that the Lord is holdine; back the final remedy because he is
not yet berert ot· all nume.n aid. VJ:aster Gerard 16 is calling
upon me to go to Cologne, 17 without compromising my loyalty to
the church of Rome; but, with the help of my good Jesus, no
gain is great enoue:h to make me join schismatics and take the
side or schism f'or the overthrow of the Lord's house. Never-
theless, I do not consider Gerard himself in any way a schis-
matic, ror his letters give clear and onen proof of his faith.
I am sending a copy of them to my lord bishop, suppressing the
writer's name so that no harm will come to hirr: or to others if
the letters are made pub.lic. I am sure you would sympathize
with me if yGu knew the anxieties that fill my mind. Even so,
though, as God is my witness, I am not so anxi0us about in my
regard for my friends, even thouE~ I am living among the hard
of heart; for as far as I myself am concerned, my correspond
ence would insure my own upkeep, were it not for the claims of
others to whose necessities I ought to communicate. 18 In case
15 Jeremias 17.5. 16 Gerard Pucelle, later Bishop of Coventry from 1183 to 1184.
Cr. Letter lbL~. 11 Tnet is, to the schismatics of Cologne, headed by 3arbaros
sa's chancellor Rainold or- Dasse.1, Archbishop of Cologne. 18 Cf. RJmans 12.13.
146
you did not know, the other Belgian province, which is now
called Rheims, is termed in ancient histories the Duricordium
province,l9 although, considering some of its inhabitants, it
could as well be called the Mollicordium province. 2° Certainly
no one well acquainted with the archbishop and his househoLd
could make out any kind of case against them for hardness of
heart. But tell me, who of our own frienas, old and native
born, has not proved to be of the tribe of the hard hearted?
Perhaps you will not believe what I say, but it is certainly
true. Master Geoffrey's son21 has been in exile with me for
eight months, but when my messenger from the Bishop of Nor-22
wich and the abbot of St. Edmunds 23 went out of his way to call
on him, not one single note for me could he get from him. God
knows, nevertheless, that I have not asked for anything from
any one of them; and I can take satisfaction in the fact that
since the beginning of my proscription there has been so !'ar
not one rebuff to embarrass me. In the light of these and the
foregoing considerations, reason can see its way, but I would
pour myself out wholly in affectionate correspondence, did not
19 That is, "hard-hearted." This seems to be a corruption of the name Durocotorum given the province by Caesar, Gallic Wars 4.43.
20 Which would mean "soft-hearted.'' 21 Richard, a son of Master Geoffrey mentioned in Letter 168. 22 William Turbe. Cf. Letter 150. 23 Hugo, abbot of St. Edmunds. cr-. Letter 187 in Miller's
edition.
147
modesty and the claims of business (lrom which I have snatched
even this short interval) force me to say from my heart: Fare
well.
148
Letter 173: John to his Brother Richard
I am making this letter to you1 a very brief one, since
you wi.ll be able to learn of' my circumstances as well !'rom the
letter I have sent my lord bishop, 2 as rrom the personal ac
count o!' the bearer or this one. ·But as soon as something wort
the telling occurs, I will make no delay in letting you know.
In the meantime, take care to look well to the advice and
wishes or my lord bishop and the archdeacon !.,[aster Baldwin, 3
and the opinions of other friends, too. From these, with the
Lord's help, either write to tell me or follow out yourse.l!'
whatever course seems most expedient. Do not be disturbed at
my exile, but remember that uwe br)ught nothing into this
world,"4 and will not even carry anything out. May God make
our cause Just, as I am sure it is; for I find my own condition
not only tolerable but pleasant, especially when I C.)nsider the
reason for it. I do not say I have not deserved worse, but the
persecutorS has not offered it to me. If this has happened in
punishment for sin, I gladly receive the strokes to purify me;
ir it is a trial of patience, I hope it will serve to gain the
1 Richard, who had g::me into exile with John in 1164, had returned to Exeter after making his peace with Henry II, though not recovering full favor. He rejoined John in 1166.
2 Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter. Cr. Letter 153. 3 Baldwin, then Archdeacon of Exeter. Cf. Letter 160. 4 Timothy 1.6.7. 5 That is, Henry II.
149
crown. It' I am afflicted in order that my pride be crushed, I
know that a devout and humb~e man mounts up to glory. Men agre
that every scourge helps him who suffers it, because it makes
his spir~t readier to despise the world and practice virtue;
for ir, on the other hand, he hardens his heart, there is the
thought of fiercer hellfire. Stupid fellows think that a man's
merits should be evb.luated by the outcome of his actions, since
the just are to the unJust "in derision, and for a parable of
reproach."6 But wait for a little while, and "in time there
shall be respect had to them. 11 7 Even in the meanwhile "there
is no peace to the wicked,"~ and by a very just judgment of
God they who persecute justice are dashed together, laid low,
crushed, and perish--all at the hands of one another. But the
just man will triumph over his enemies even when he sleeps,
and this triumph will be greater in proportion to his innocence
"Who hath hoped in tne Lord" "and hath been rorsaken? 11 9
Though that man be sought rrom the dawn or time, he will not
be round even on the last day.
6 Wi ad om 5 • 3. 7 Wisdom 3.6. 8 Isaias 48.22; 57.21. 9 Ecclesiasticus 2.11, 12. One clause is taken from each verse
Letter 1'74: JOhn to Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter
Although, in the vein of familiar correspondence, the
heading or this letter orfers no wishes ror your1 health,
150
still nothing holds a dearer place in my wishes and prayers
than that your ways may continually prosper in the Lord. The
salutation due my lord and father has no wise been omitted
through any .lack or lessen;l.ng or charity, but by an orten
granted indulgence, and by the considerate regard that eases
the duties or another and tempers every well-conditioned re-
lationship. The reason f:)r this indulgence is so obvious that
it need not be dec.lared at all, or had best be mentioned only
brier 1y; r or there are pi tt·a..t.LS, they say, at every turn, so
that no exchange or words or letters among good men can be
safe. Wickedness is plotting some vain trick or another
against innocence, and e:oaded on by the unceasing stine; of a
seared conscience, suspects everyone and everything. And
rightly and deservedly so, for there should be "no peace to
the wicked" 2 so long as justice battles and prevails over her
enemies. Certainly "that which the wicked teareth shall come
up•Jn him"3 and "the just shall be delivered out of distress, u4
1 Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter. Cf. Letter 160. 2 Isaias 48.22; 57.21. 3 Proverbs 10.24. 4 Proverbs 11.8.
151
"because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."5 For the
moment the fury of this storm against the church is raging at
will, and the wicked seem to be prevailing against the Lord.
Rut soon Christ, if7hom they are persecuting, will so repay them
what they deserve that you will see the arm of the balance dip
in favor of vengeance, and not so much weigh delicately those
whom He shall "oie:ntily torment"6 as rather "overwhelm" them
"with the weight of His greatness."7 !'Tot, o!' C)Urse, that He
will do them any injustice, but that on those who sin beyond
mean or measure He will impose an immeasurable and unbounded
punishment. Let no one think that I am prophesying for the
distant future, although for that matter the truth, as well as
the authority, of the divine oracle continues unbroken. Is it
not plain to see that to some extent that judgment is already
under way, and that the sentence has already been ordered put
into execution? Would the German tyrantS not have overturned
the world recently by the might of his name, subdue almost all
the neighboring kingdoms and terrify even the empire of the
Greeks, so that he seemed to offer surrender rather than al-
lienee to the legations that were sent to him? But see now,
how by God's grace he is no longer so much dreaded. He who by
5 Isaias 1.20. 6 Wi sd om 6 • 7 • 7 JOb 23.6 • 8 Frederick ~arbarossa.
152
a mere nod was wont to terrify princes near and far cannot
lt:eep his own Teutons from wrongdoine;. He who by only a word
used to decree war and peace for whole peoples at his whim now
congratulates himself if his own men have exchanged pledges of
amity. For, as he himself complains, ever since he went to
st. Jean-de-Losne9 to withdraw the French king10 and cnurch
from the faith and turn them to his own heresy to adore his
idol, 11 his success has ceased. ~he fortune which exalted him
has begun to waver towards his downfall, and it is the hope of
the faithful that, for the honor or· God, he will soon fall
still rurther until Christ, Whose spouse he is persecuting,
tramples him to dust beneath His feet. And in England, too,
is not judgment already being exacted o!' the church's torment
ors? Think how great the English king12 was when he seemed "a
little one in his own eyes," 13 and made at least a show of
faith in and reverence for the church of God; you will recall
that then he was frustrated in none or his underte.kings. "His
9 Count Henry of Champagne, brother-in-law of Louis VII of France, had agreed with Barbarossa to try to replace Alexander III by the anti-pope Victor IV. In pursuance of this plot he tried to arrange a meeting between Barbarossa and Louis VII, each acc::>mpanied by his own Pope, on a bridge that crossed the Saone at St. Jean-de-Losne, August 29, 1162, at which a mixed commission of clergy and laymen was to judge between the two Pontiffs. Alexander III refused to accompany Louis VII, and the affair was abandoned.
10 Louis VII. 11 Cardinal Octavian, the antipope Victor IV. Cf. Daniel 3.5. 12 Henry II. 13 Kings 1.15.17.
153
arrow did not turn back,"14 his shield did not !'all in battle,
and his spear was not turned aside. Ee "couched as a lion1115
over his prey, and no one dared "to rouse him." The very sight
of him terrified his foes; his neighbors bowed in homage; prince
from arar sought his friendship. He was revered by his own,
honored by strangers, and extolled by everyone. Good men es
teemed him, and the clergy in particular revered him to the ut
most, respected him in the highest degree possible, and with one
mind esteemed him "above the love of women."l6 In short, in the
eyes of men he enjoyed an abundance or everything that could be
desired. He was t'ree from all fear and anxiety, except what
sprang not from need or reason but from willrulness or passion.
But to what end has he amassed all these gifts, if he continues
in this present position ot· his without repentance or satisfac-
tion? Not to mention the inJuries done to other sees, which he
had struck in ignorance (as it was thought) or on t~e pretext o
royal prerogative, when he was preparing to wage the War of To
louse17 he obliged all the churches, contrary to long-standing
custom and the exemption they deserved, t.o contribute to the
scutage in the amount he and his satellites would determine.
He did not even allow the churches to be put on an equal footin
14 Kings 2.1.22. 15 Genesis 49.9. 16 Kings 2.1.26. 17 The occasion of the Great Scutage of 1159·
154
with the nobility in this levy, or rather extortion, which was
as unnecessary as it was unjust. The former were treated more
harsh.ly, as though unworthy of their possessions or or honor.
But what success did he gain with this wealth of money he had
procured by such extortion and injustice? Was it not "thrown
into a bag with holes?" 18 to help the enemy who picl!ed it up,
and to be not only useless but even harmful to him who lost it?
Did not his good fortune double back and his rich successes dro
away from that day forwaru? But someone will say that this
rorced scutage and this exaction on the churches should be
blamed entirely on his chancellor, 19 who is now either an arch-
bishop, as I believe, or is trying to become one, as the enviou
falsely assert. At that time, they say, he was influencing the
king to do everything as he himself wished, and was the cause
of this evil as he was or many others. Now even though I know
that this is untrue, inasmuch as I know that he was not lending
his authority to the king's desires then, but was bowing to the
unavoidable; nevertheless, since I have no doubt that he was a
minister of wickedness, I think it entirely Just that in these
matters he be punished chiefly at the hands or the man whom he
put berore God, the .Author or all good things, and that with th
roles reversed the man whom he thought of and praised as the
.18 l~ggeus 1.6. 19 Thomas Becket was at that time Henry's chancellor.
155
originator of his own perversity be now the source or his pun-
ishment. In the heart and on the lips or the wise is that
orten quoted saying from the Book of Wisdom, "By what things a
man sinneth, by the same also he is puniAhed." 20 Thus Cain,
the first murderer, was slain; 21 Chanaan, who enslaved others,
was condemned to everlasting slavery;22 Pharao was drowned with
the soldiers through whom he had drowned the Hebrew innocentsf
and there are many more examples along this line. But see, now
he (the chancellor) is doing penance, now he acknowledges and
confesses his fault, and ir he once attacked the church with
Saul, with Paul he is now ready to give his life f'or it. 24 Who
then will deny that judgment has alread:)' begun in tee house ot·
the Lord, now that the princes or the people are hung up in
the sun on gibbets to show the gentiles the justice or God? 25
Are not the princes or the people these two, one or whom
dispenses spiritual things while the other manages the tempora
Is not the law or this dispensation and ministry entrusted to
them to administer? These are the two cherubim who look toward
one another and overshadow the law and the propitiatory with
20 \~isdom 11.17. 21 Perhaps based on Genesis 4.14: "Omnis igitur qui invenerit
me, occidet me." cr. Letter l'(b, line 135, of' Millor's edition.
22 Cr. Genesis 9.25. 23 Cf. Exodus 15.19. 24 For St. Paul's conversion, cr. Acts 9. 25 Cf. Numbers 25.4.
156
their winge. 26 Their faces, however, are turned toward the
propitiatory, for thus in the sight of' one another they should
take pleasure in constantly watching and revering God's law in
the ark of their own hearts, and not e11ow God's propitiatory
to take harm, either for their own mutual interest or for any
other reason. One may not turn hie face away from the pro
pitiatory. If the Lord has rcund wickedness even among Hie
own angels, and punishes it, whe> doubts that the cases of' Hie
subjects are aired berore the Al.1-I1igh or ha,ve already been so
aired? Run over in your mind the many great opponents the Lord
has raised up against his majesty since he lirted up his heel27
against God ror the ruin e>f the church; you will be quite
astonished and, if you are wise, you will revere God's judg
ment. He has picked no emperors, no kings, no national lead-
ers to break hi!!l. He has picked Britons, the remotest or men;
first the Welsh, 2ti and a!'ter them He roused to opposition and
open hosti.tity the very- men who used to "venerate his foot
steps."29 This He did "that no flesh mip;ht glory in His
sight u30 but "that the name of the Lord might be blessed ever
more."31 In this same way, to punish Solomon's ingratitude
26 Cf. Exodus 37·7· 27 Cf. John 13.18. 28 Referring to the failure of Henry's expedition of llb5 to
suppress the coa.lition of' Owen Gwynedd and Rhys ap Gruf'fydd. 29 Cf. Statius, Thebaid 12.817. 30 Corinthians 1.1.29. 31 Psa.tms 71.17; Daniel 2.20.
157
when he turned from the Lord,32 He did not raise up princes
against him, but brigands and abject slaves. Let no one think,
then, that his majesty will enjoy prosperity henceforth unless
with God's help he is converted through penance and adopts a
more God-fearing line of conduct. The prophet says that in our
own day and country "the princes of Tanis 11 33 have been s11own to
be fools who have given their kinp; stupid c:)unsel. He is tor-
mented with uncertainty at every turn, but the war ne is push-·
ing against Christ and the church weighs on him still more, and
seems an unending, hopeless labyrinth. Recently he called to
the conference at Cninon34 his potentates and intimates who are
known to be practised and unflagging in wickedness, and skilled
in speaking and doing evil. With repeated prumises, threats,
and oaths, he asked them carefully what strategy he should use
against the church. He complained bitter.ty of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, groaning, sighing, and, as some who were present
afterwards said, even weeping when he said that the Archbishop
was taking both body and soul from him. At last he said that
anyone who would not help him materially and by personal effort
to rid himself of one plaguing man was a traitor.35 Hereupon
32 Cf. Kings 3.11.14 and the following. 33 Isaias 19.13. 34 On June l, 1166. Cf'. Letter 111. 35 Note the similarity between t:nis exclamation and the one
which led to Becket's murder some four years later.
158
my lord of Rouen36 flared up a bit against tnis and took him
to task; he did so more mildly than was his wont, however, and
"in a spirit or meekness, u37 though the cause of God rather de-
manded that severity and the authority of e prince of the
church be applied to a disease or railing faith and reason.
The king's pangs were the sharper, too, from the dread ne had
conceived at the letters which tne above-mentioned lord of
Canterbury had sent t:> him and t:> his mother.38 A copy of them
is being rorwarded to you. He was afraid, and with good reason
that by the authority and command of the sovereign pontiff a
sentence of interdict would be promptly pronounced against his
country, and one of anathema against his person. The Bishop of
Lisieux39 said that in such a crisis the one remedy was to
anticipate the impending sentence by an appeal. I do not know
how it happens, unless that the more truth is harrassed the
strJnger it grows, or that justice gains power proportionate to
the beating it receives, but nevertheless, while the king is
trying to annul the right of appeal by those hereditary 11 cus
toms,"40 he is actually strengthening it the more, since he is
forced to take refuge in an appeal to save his own head. Com-
ing t'rom this council, then, the bishops of Lisieux and of
36 Rotrou de Beaumont, Archbishop of Rouen from 1165 toll83. 37 Galatians 6.1. 38 The Empress :Uathilda. Cf. Letter 1'?5· 39 Arnult, Bishop of Lisieux from 1141 to 1181. 40 That is, the Constitutions of Clarendon.
159
Seez41 left the face of their God and their king and hurried to
the oft-mentioned lord of Canterbury to file their appeal and
hold off his sentence until the octave day or Easter. 42 My
lord of Rouen set out with them not, as he says, to appeal, but
to negotiate the peace he longs for. Our own archbishop, how-
ever, with everything in readiness to level his sentence, made
a trip to Scissons. This he did to commend his struggle to the
Blessed Virgin, whose memory is held in honor there; to St.
Drausius, 43 to whom warriors have recourse on the eve of battle
and to St. Gregory,44 founder of the English cnurch, who is
buried in that city. St. Drausius is a famous confessor whom
the French and the Lotharingia·ns believe renders righters who
spend a night's vigil in his memory invincible. Suc4 men fly
to him even from Burgundy and Italy; RObert de £.[ountfort45 him
self kept a vigil in his honor when he was going to fight
against Henry of Essex. 46 In this way, therefore, at the Lord'
hands the efrorts or the king's bishops went ror naught; for
41 Frogerius, Bishop or Seez from 1157 to 1184. 42 That is, until Low Sunday, April 16, 1167. 43 St. Drausius, Bishop of Soissons from 658 to 676. 44 Gregory the Great, Pope from 590 to 604. 45 In 1163 Robert accused Henry of Essex of high treason at
the battle or Consilt, 11?7, by letting the standard fall in battle. The accusation was decided by ordeal by battle; but although Henry fell before Robert's lance, he was allowed to be removed from the field by the monks of Reading. Later, when he was proved to be still alive, he was permitted to remain at the abbey as a brother.
46 King's c·:mstab.le for Henry II. Cf. the preceding note.
160
when they arrived at Pontigny they failed to find the arch
bishop to whom they wanted to appeal, and returned frustrated,
compiaining that they had spent their labor and resources with
out achieving anything. As for the archbishop, when he had
kept a three nights' vigil in honor of the memory or the saints
I mentioned, he hurried to Vezelay tne day after the Ascen
sion,47 to pronounce sentence or anathema on Pentecost48
against the king and his minions. It happened proYidentialiy,
however, that while he was at the church of Rigny49 the Friday
before Pentecost, he received a wholly certain and credible
report that his English majesty was very seriously ill and
could not attend the conference with the king or France which
he had tried so hard and with so many presents to arrange. It
was said tnat he had sent Richard or Poitlers5° and Richard of
Hommet5i to pLead his excuses and to take an oath to confirm
this reason for his absence. In deference to his majesty's
illness, thererore, when the archbishop had learned of it from
a messenger !'rom the French king, he postponed pronouncement
of the sentence against the king, as your John52 had suggested
earlier when he advised him not to be in a hurry to i~pose
penalties. He publiciy announced the excommunication of John
47 June 3, llbb. 48 June 12, 1166. 49 A Cistercian monastery in the diocese or f,uxerre. 50 Richard of Ilchester, archdeacon or Poitiers. cr. Letterl7 51 Constabie or Normandy. 52 Perhaps JOhn of Salisbury.
.Lbl
or Oxford, however, excommunicating him by the authority or the
Roman :pontin because (to use his own words) he had fallen into
heresy by offering the Emperor53 a sacrilegious oath, had com
municated with the schismatic of Cologne,54 and had usurped the
deanry of the church of Salisbury contrary to the command or
my lord pope.5? These were the reasons he alleged rrom the
pulpit in the hearing of all who had come to Vezelay from
various countries tor the festiva.L. At the same time, for
various Just reasons he excommunicated Richard, archdeacon of
Poitiers, Richard de Lucy,?6 Jocelin of Ballio1,57 Ralph de
Broc,?~ Hug:h of St. C.Lare, Tilomas Fltz ?,ernard, and all who
should hereafter lay hands on the revenues or property or the
see ot· Canterbury to misuse them or to obstruct their use by
those to wnose needs they have been assigned. The king, whom
he had previ=>us.ty called upon by letter and by messenger, ac
cording to the customary ecclesiastical procedure, he now in
vited to make restitution and called him publicly to the fruits
ot penance, threatening to pass sentence ot· anathema against
him soon if he did not regain his senses and make satisfaction
53 Frederick Barbarossa. 54 Archbishop Rainold or Cologne, the Emperor's chancellor. 55 Alexander III. 56 Henry II's justiciar, regarded as one of the authors of the
Constitutions of Clarendon. 57 Excommunicated ror the same reason as Richard de Lucy. Cf.
Letter 17?, note 10. 5~ He and tne two following were excommunicated ror having
seized the revenues and property or the see or Canterbury.
162
for hie arrogant measures asainst the church. But the king
certainly will not do this or hie own accord, and I know none
or· his menials who would be inclined to promulgate this sen
tence to him. The archbishop also passed a public c~ndemnation
on the document containing the crimes of evildoers against the
church, which goes by name or the ancestral customs,59 and in
cluded under tlJ.e ban of anathema whoever should make use of
the authority of that document hereafter. T.he following were
the principal theses condAmned by name, on the advice of the
church of Tome:
That a bieho:' may not excommunicate anyone who has tenure
from the king, without the kinE~'s permission;
That a bishop may not protect any one or his parishioners
from perjury or breaking his word;
That clerics are bound by decisions or secular courts;
That laymen, either the king or others, may deal with
cases involving sees or tithes;
That ap~;eal may not be made to the Apostolic See ror any
reason without permission of the king and his officials;
~hat neither an archbishop, bishop, or any other person
may call upon m~ lord pope without authorisation of the king;
and many more such provisions, which have been found opposed
to the laws of God and the constitutions of the holy fathers.
59 That is, the Constitutions of Clarendon.
163
The archbishop also absolved all bishops from the promise
they had made to submit to that document contrary to ecclesi
astical decree. He proclaimed this to archbishops and bishops
by letter, too, as he had been advised by the Roman church.
1~'hile the archbishop was doin5 this, however, the king, as I
am sure you are aware, sent a good man, l1.•!aster Walter de
l'Isle, 60 to England with letters rrom the conference at
~h' 61 t th i 1 d th t 1 b " b d '·-' ~non,. o warn e s an ers a an appea ... aa. een ma e,
to set a careful watch over the ports and channel crossings,
and to suspend the cLergy's obedience; whereas all the time,
as a matter of fact, the appeal had not been made at alL, and
the archbishop could easily be found. I have no doubt that
this chicanery, along with all the other encroachments against
God's church, is distastefUl to the aforesaid Walter, for he
is a Cod-tearing man. The king has also called in my lord of
Chicnester62 and others whose foresight he thinks can strength
en his evil designs agaJ.nst God; certainly, though, if they
were wise they would at least spare themselves and theirs in '
such a cause as this, for "upon their own head will the pun-
ishment fall." 63 For the rest, my lord pope is wellin Rome. 64
There is a reliable report that Cremona along with eight other
bO 61 62 63
Custodian of the King's Seal. Cf. note 34 above. Hilary, Bishop ot Chichester from 1147 to 1169. Ovid, Ars Amoris 1.340; for the translation, cf. Letter 159, note 20./64 He had returned there :Yovember 23, 1165.
164
states is in revolt against the Teuton. 65 The bishop of Tuecu
lumb6 and Cardinal Humbald67 have passed away. King William of
Sicily also died, 68 succeeded by his sons, one to hie kingdom69
and the other to the duchy of Apulia.7° When he was in his
death-throes he had 60,000 pounds sterling made over to John of
rTaplesll for the use of' my lord pope; the eon who succeeded to
the throne, moreover, sent a like amount. The ~rench king sup
ports the archbishop o!' Canterbury in every way, s.nd has more
respect for hi~ than for his own brother.72 I imagine that the
atfairs or the English court, where the situation is in con-
tinual flux, are better known to you than to myself. l!~ay your
Paternity flourish and prosper in the Lord, and be sure to
recommend us to the prayers of the saints, that He may "comfort
us in all our tribulation. tt73 I will return when He VTho set me
aside ror exile wishes me to; for Him, as fBr as it be His good
p~easure, I have readily decided to endure exile and the ad-
versities which He has decreed and has strengthened my weakness
to bear. ~f..ay He 'IJ'iho has given me in my unworthiness the will
to suffer for His sake grant me by His grace the patience to
65 Frederick Barbarossa. 66 Hugo, Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, who died May 31, 1166. 6'( Cardinal of s. Croce in Jerusalem. 68 William I of Slcily, who died :~y 7, 1166. 69 William II. 70 Henry, Duke or Apulia. 71 Cardinal ot St. Anaetasia. 72 Henry, Archbishop of Rheims. 73 corinthians 2.1.4.
165
persevere. My wish and prayer is for the welfare of your
church and all your house, and of all who "communicate to our
necessity"74 through their kindly intercession.
74 Cf. Romans 12.13.
166
Letter 175: Johnto Bishop Bartholomew or Exeter
Two reasons have led me to write to you1 under the present
circumstances: r·irst, because, as is my custom, I do not per-
mit anyone I know to be travelling to you to leave without a
letter from me; and secondly, because I wanted to humor those o
my friends whose wishes it is proper to satisfy. These friends
have asked me to use whatever small inrluence I nave to recom-
mend to your Paternity the bearer of' this letter. He says he i
a native or Devon, though one might think he came rrom your own
rormer fellow-parishioners around Mount St. Michel2 in the Jay
or Brittany.3 He is commended ror the reason that he has lived
in the district of Rheims rJr S'ome years creditably and without
cause ror complaint. In compliance with their wishes, there-
r·ore, I make this a~Jpeal to your piety sincerely and confident
ly, especially since both personal experience and the common
consensus have proved to me, as to many others, that a man of
your perception is not unaware of that law among rriends which
is ratified by the promptings of equity as well as by the judg
ment or· philosophers. It is--and you know this better than I
--that integrity should rule one's requests, and that converse
ly, the requests of one's rriends should find ear only insofar
1 Bartholomew, Bishop of' Exeter. Cf. Letter 174. 2 .Jartholomew was a native of' :,Ullieres, Department or· La
::V1anche. 3 JOhn calls the bay "Armoricus," the present Bretagne.
167
as that integrity permits.4 Right reason certain..ly demands
that what is wrong in itself be neither asked nor granted in
the name of !'riendship.5 Since, then, I have undertaken for
my friends' sake to recommend a friend to my father and lord,
I beg you, out or regard for God and thr:Jugh my intercession,
to give him a favorable hearing in whatever point discretion
may deem it consonant with hi.s needs and your integrity. If
you happen to hear. that he is coming back here to me, he can
be given letters C:)ntaining at least what is common knowledge,
to bring me news or yourself and our friends. For the present
I am writlne; rather sparingly about my own circumstances, not
that I Wish to hide any o:t' my affairs from you, but because I
recall that I gave you all the news quite recently through
Fulk; 6 whatever the written page lacked I judged wouLd be
supplied by the exalted office and care of its bearer. But
touching the public state or a!'f'airs, it has been repeated..Ly
asserted since then, that all the English bishops have met at
the king' s'l command, and, to rore stall the sentence which my
lord popeS had pronounced, have appealed against their arch
bishop9--against their own archbishop, who for their own
4 Cf. Cicero, Laelius 44.1,2. 5 cr. id. 37 • .15-18. 6 Deanor Rheims. 7 Henry II. 8 A..lexander III. 9 That is, Th)mas of Canterbury.
168
sarety and the rreedom or the church, has not been loath nor
arraid, ashamed nor hesitant, to expose his own pr-Jperty to
the spoilers, his position to peril, his good name to mockery,
and his very head, sh~uld circumstances require it, to the
swords or· his enemies. Two clerics came to him recently, as I
was reliably informed by a man who was at Pontigny at the time,
to make a public dec.laration and appeal, one on the part or my
lord of Salisbury,.lO and the other for h1.s dean. 11 They flat
ly denied that they had taken any oath to the emperor, 12 or
had held any communication with the Cologne schismatic,
Rainold • .L3 One or them admitted that he was a cleric from the
house and board or B:aster John OI Oxtord, a cleric of the
king's, and said that he had a message rrom the king to the
archbishop. In the name and person of his maJesty and, as he
said, at his command, he summoned the archbishop to an audienc
wlth my lord Pope Alexander, filing an appeal through him and
setting the date as that when "I am the good shepherd" is
sung. 14 The arcnbishop, however, gave him this answer: 11 Sinc
I do not know you, since you carry no letter nor commission
from the king, and since you are excommunicated ror communi-
10 J 0 celin de Bal.Lio1, Bishop or Salisbury from 1142 to 1184. Ct. Letter 1'(4, note 57.
11 John or Oxford, dean or Salisbury. cr. Letter 174. 12 Frederick 3arbarossa. 13 .Barbarossa's cnancellor, Archbishop of Cologne rrom 11?9
to 11b7. 14 That is, t.t1e second Sunday ar·ter Easter, April 23, 1167.
169
eating with your lord John OJ; oxrord, who has been publicly
excommunicated by papal letter, you cannot make a valid al.)peal.
For my part, I will follow the apostolic decree, and with Goc's
grace, fulfill it." I wanted to know how he is disposed
towaFJs Salisbury, 15 and have sent a personal messenger to get
a confidential report of his intentions. For the rest, all
~ranee is amazed at this move on the part of the bishops; they
say tnat they should rather have met to discuss the salvation
of their kin[, whom they see daily slipping because of his op-
pression of church and clergy, just as the emperor is doing
because of his schism. Thejr should have concerned themselves
with the freedom and peace or the church and taken p8ins to
restore peace for the clergy, instead of exposing themselves
and their own property to expense, toll, and danger, and by
de-basing their own good name reduce the church to servi t~1de
for the future. There has been another surprising development
also, if it is really true, which startles all who hear it: 16 namely, the bisho-c) of Here!ord, though held to be educated
and to despise the things of the world, is inveighing against
the archbishop who consecrated him, and calls him an agitator
because he is asserting the freedom of tile church. Did not
t~e officers of the children of Israel throw the blame thus on
15 That is, Jocelin de Balliol. Cf. above, note 10. 16 Robert of llelun, Bishop of Hereford from 1L63 to 1167.
170
Moses and Aaron, 17'the executors or God's lew, because they
were scourged by the taskmasters and denied the straw that was
rightfully due them? Did they not reproach the ministers of
God because they had made their names "to stink before Pharao
and his servants"? 18 But even though they murmured and com-
plalned, they still followed ?:!oses. Would that these who are
now murmuring and complaining rollow the law or the Lord! If
they will do this, they will confer separately with both
pr.rties, the king and the archbishop. They will openly accuse
the one whol!l they find at t'ault. They will take sides aeainst
hi'':, and will not det'ile themselves by contact with unclean-
ness, either by condoning or dissembling the wickedness or the
other.
17 Cf. Exodus 5.15. 18 Exodus 5.21.
..
PART IV
I!'TDEX I:
~ORKS QUOT~D OR REFERRED TO
IN TEXT 0~ LETTERS 136 TO 175
INDEX OF WORKS QUOTFD OR RF.FF.RRED TO BY SALISBURY
IN THE TEXT OF.LETTERS 136 TO 175 INCLUSIVE
Holy Bible: Genesis: 136, 139, 140, 153, 158, 1'74. Exodus: llH, 1'""{4, 175. Numbers: 159, 167, 174. Deuteronomy: 143. Judges: 159. 1 Kings: 159, 169, 174. 2 Kings: 159, 174. 3 Kings: 143,174. 4 Kings: 136, 137, 139, 11~3. 2 Paralipomenon: ~43. 1 Esdras: 140, lb4. Tobias: 154. Job: 136, 137, 161, 167, 170, 174. Psalms: 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 157, 158, 164,
16 8 ' 16 9 J 17 4. Proverbs: 143, 145, 153, 154, 160, 161, 174. Canticle or Canticles: lhJ, 156. Wisdom: 164, 173, 174. Ecclesiastes: l~J, 143, 160, 173. Isaias: 136, 143, ~47, 149, 155, 165, lb9, 1'73, 174. Jeremias: 139, 172. La menta ti ons: 11~9, ~55. Ezechiel: 149. Daniel: 174. Joel: 145. Aggaeus: 144, 174. Zacharias: 155. 1 !.Tachabees: 167. :!.at thew: 140, 141, 143, 148, 155, 15'7, 164, 167. Mark: 141. Luke: 13o, 139, 14·), 143, 147, 148, 155, 160, 162, 16'7, 1'71 John: 140, 156, 160, 161, 168, 174. Acts:. 143, 157, 174. James: 140, 143, 172. 1 Peter: 163, 168. 1 John: 160. L corinthians: 14J, 143, 147, 149, 156, 158, 160, 167, 168,
169, 172, 174. 2 Corinthians: 140, 155, 159, 164, 167, 169,174. Romans: 139, 143, 156, 159, 160, 168, 169, 172, 174. Colossians: 143. Philippians: 147.
171
Galatians: 154, 159, lbl, 165, lb8, Lb9, 174. 1 Timothy: 173. Bebrews: 155· Apocalypse: 169, 174.
Aristotle: Topics: 143.
Apuleius: De Deo Socratis: 143. Floridorum: 165.
Bede: De Sex Aeta tl bus .lund.i: 14 3·
Caesar, Julius: Gallic V.'ars: 172.
Cassi odorus: De Institutione Divinarum Litterarum: 143.
Cicero: De Inventione: 1?9· De J\micitia (Laelius): 139, 140, 175. Epistolae ad FBMiliares: 159·
Dlonysius, the pseudo-Areopagite: Celestial Hierarchy: 142, 171. EcclesiasticaL Hierarchy: L42, 171.
Epiphanius of Cyprus: De Viris ILLustrlbus: 143.
Gregory the Great, St.: ~Joralia: 140, 142, 143, lh5.
:Sorace: Epistles: 143. Ars Poetica: 159.
Isidore or SevilLe, St.: Etymologies: 143.
Jerome, St.: Epistola ad Paulinum: 143. Prefatio in Libras Samuel et ~.~alachim: 143. Epistola ad Rusticum ~,Pnachum: L43.
172
1'73
De Viris Illustribus: 143. De ~ominibus Hebraeorum: 164, 169.
John or Ephesus: (As author or the Acts or the Apostles): 143.
JOhn or· Salisbury: Policraticus: 140, 141 (note 1).
John Scotus Erigena: (As translator or the Celestial Hierarchy or Dionysius the pseudo-Areopagite): 142, 143.
Juvenal: Satires: 159, 16'(, 172.
~ii ssale Romanui'l: 139, 140, 158.
Ovid: Metamorphoses: 139, 141. Fasti: 136. Episto1ae ex Ponto: 136, 143. Ars Amoris: 159, 174.
Palladius: Proemium ad Hietoria~ Lausiacam: 143. Epistola ad Lausiacam: 143.
Philo: Quare Q,uorundam in Scripturis mutata sint Nomina: 143.
Rhabanus ~·:~aurus: De Ecclesiasticie Orflciis: 143.
Seneca: Episto1ae 1 ~ora1es: 143.
Statius: Thebaid: 1'74.
Sulpicius Severus: Epistola ad 3assu1um: 139, 140.
Terence: Ade1phoi: 136. Andria: 159, 167.
Theophil.us or Alexandria: Chronica: 143.
Valerius !!aximus: Factorum et Dictorum Hemorabilium: 143.
Vegetius Renatus: De He ~hl.l tari: 14 3.
Virgil: Eel ogue s: 136. Aeneid: 145.
1'74
Virgilian and Homeric Patchworks (Virgiliocentonae, Homerocentonae): 143.
P!'.RT V
PTDEX II:
PERSONS AN'D PLACES HENTIOHED
· PT TEXT OF LETTERS .136 TO 175
P~mEX II: PERSONS A~JD PLi\C~S I.TE!'TTIJt:ED Il'! LETTERS 136-1'75
A -Adrian IV, pope OTicholas Breakspear): 136.
Aggaeus: 143. Agnes of Braine, wile or Robert o!' Dreux: 145. Alberic or Rheims: 143. Alexander III, Pope: 136,144,145,151,153,154,159,174,175· Alured or Chard: 162. Apollo, Delphic oracle or: 143. Appllonius or Rhodes: 143. Are1ate (Arlee): 144. Aristippus of Cyrene: 105. Arnold I, Count of Guinea: 136. Arnold II, grandson of Arnold I or Guines: 136. Arnull, Bishop or Lisieux; 136,174. Arras: 136. L'Aumone, Philip, abbot of: 145.
B -Baldwin de Beuseberg: 136.
3a1dwin, Archdeac·:)n of Totnes and Exeter: 146,160,.L73. Barbarossa, Emperor: (see Frederick Barbarossa).
c
3arnabas, St., Apostle: 143. BarthoLomew, Bisnop of Exeter: 136,153,159,160,169,173,
174,175-.139,140,144,154. 3ayeux, Henry, Bishop or:
Bias of Priene: 143. Blois, Theobald IV, Count 3oxley, Kent: .L36.
of: 143.
-Campania: 144. Canterbury, See or: 136,13d,l44,145,151.
--- Lanfranc, Archbishop of: 151. --- Thomas, Archbishop of: (see Thomas of Canterbury). --- Theoba.Ld, Archbishop of: 145,170.
Chalone-sur-Marne, Guy III (Guido), 3~shop or: 137,145. Champagne, Henry, Count or: 143.
--- Theobald, Count of: .L43. ~hicnester, Hilary, Bishop or: 144,145,159, 174.
--- Serrride, Bishop of: 145. Chilham, Kent: 136. Chlnon, Conference or: 171, 1'74. Christ Church, Canterbury: 151. Christian of Buch, Bishop of Hainz: 144. C.l.aremba1d, Abbot ot' St. Augustine: 136.
175
Clarendon, Counci~ of: 136. --- Constitutions of: 167, 136, 1'{2, .174.
Clement I, St., Pope: 143. Cologne, Rainold, Archbishop or: 144,164,174,175· Cornwall, Reginald, Ear.l or: 136; Coventry, Gerard PucAl1e, Bishop of: 164,172. Cremona: 174.
D Drausius, St., Bishop or Soissons: 174.
E -Ecluse, L', castle or: 136.
E.1.eanor, wife or Henry II of Enr;1and: 136,144. E.lizabeth or Schoenau: 144. Engelbert, Prior or Val St. Pierre: 147,.148. Ernisius, Abbot of St. Victor, Paris: 168. Evreux, Rotrou de Beaumont, Archbishop ot: 154,174. F.xeter: 136.
176
Ba~dwin, Archdeacon of: --- Bartholomew, Bishop of:
160,146,173· 136 '153, 159 J 160' 169' 1'73, 174, .175.
---Roger of' Sudbury, Cleric or: 11.~6. Ezechias: 1·43.
F -F .Landers: 136.
--- Philip, Count or: 144. Frederick Barbarossa: 144,146,153,164,174,175· Frogerius, Bishop of Seez: 174. Fulk, Dean or R!leims: 175.
G -Gamalie~ (in Acts or the APost~es): 143.
Geoffrey, nephew of St. Thomas or Cl?nterbury: 136. Geoffrey of St. Edmunds: 168,1'72. Georrrey de Mandeville: 168. Geneva: 144. Gerard Pucelle: 164,172. Gilbert Fo.liot, Bishop or London: 144,1,3,15~,159. Gregory the Great, Pope: 174. GUichard, Bishop of Lyons: 145. Guy de Joimrille (Guido III), Bishop or Cbalons-sur-I!•rarne:
137,145. Guy of Crema, anti-Pope Paschal III: 144. Guy or Sen1i s, cup-bearer of L'Jui s VI I: 145.
177
l! Henry II of England: 136,140,144,145,152,153,154,155,149,
150,158,159,166,167,168,169,172,173,174.
I
Henry, Prince, son of Henry II: 136. Henry, (Hervey), envoy of St. Thomas of Canterbury: 136. Henry, Duke of Apulia: 174. Henry, Bishop of- Bayeux: 139,140,144,154. Henry of Cha.mpagne, Count: · 143. Henry of Essex, King's Constable for Henry II: 174. Henry of ?ranee, Archbishop of Rheims: 136,145,172,174. Henry of Pi sa, Cardinal: 136, 145. Hereford, Robert !~elun, 3ishop of: 144,175. Hilary, Bishop or Chichester: 11~4,145,159,174. Hildegard of 3ingen, St.: 144. HUgh or St. Benedict, envoy of Henry II: 145. Hugh, abbot of St. Amand: 152. Hugh or St. Clare: 1·74. Hugo, Abbot of St. Edmunds: 172. Hugo, Cardinal-Eishop of Tusculum: 174. Huntingdon, 'Ticholas de Sigillo, Archdeacon of: 141. Humphrey Bos: 154. Humbald, Cardinal of Sante Croce, Jerusalem: 174.
-Ingram, Abbot of St. 2.·~edard: 148. Ivo de ~Tigella, Count of Spissons: 136.
J -J0 celin of Balliol, ~ishop of Salisbury: 174,175·
John ;lelmeis, B.ishon of Poitiers: 136, 170,171,1{2. J~n of Naples, Cardinal of St. Anastasia: 174. John of Oxrord, Dean of Salisbury: 17L!-,l75· JOhn Sarrazin, Abbot of Vercelli: 142,171.
L . -Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury: 151.
Laon: 136. Lincoln, Robert de Chesney, Bishop of: 141. Lisieux, Arnuld, B~shop or: l3b,l74. London: 145.
~-- Council or: 136. --- Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of: 144,153,158,159·
Louis VII of France: 136,145,155,169,174. Lyons: 145.
---John Belmeis, Archbishop of: 136,170,171,172.
1.78
i' If ..;;: l1ainz (I.~ayence), Christian of 3uch, P.rchbishop of: 144. Tf.agi, relics of: 164. :Aalachla s: 14 3. :Ualcolm IV of Scotland: 144. ~.'Iargaret, daughter of Louis VII of France: 136. :Jarsilius, monk of St. Bertin, F.l.:mders: 136. ~:~athilda, Empress, mother of Henry II or Ene:;land: 144,145,
155,174. =.~erton, Fobert, Prior of: 157,158.
N
Milo II, Bishop or Terouanne-Bou1ogne: 138. M:oab: !44. Mont st. Jacques, }TiCholas, Guest-master oi: 155· l\~ontpelier: 1.44.
-::-Jicho1as, Guest-master of Mt. St. Jacques: 155. Nicholas Breakspear, Pope Adrian IV: 136. Nicholas or N0 rwich: 149.
0
~Tichol.as de Sigi1lo, Archdeacon of Huntingdon: 141. Norwich, William Turbe, Bishop or: 149,1~0,1.72. Noyon: 136.
-Octavian, Cardinal, anti-Pope Victor IV: 174. Odo, SUb-prior of Christ rhurch, Canterbury: 151.
p -Paris: 136,145.
Paschal III, anti-Pope: 144. Paulinus the Presbyter, letter of St. Jerome to: 143. Peter of Cel.le, Abbot of' St. Remy: 136,137,143,145,152. Peter Hely, tutor of J;hn of Salisbury: 172. Philip, Abbot ot' L'Aumone: 145. Phil.ip or Calne: 13b. Philip, Count or Flanders: 1.36,144,152. Pisa: 144. Pittacus or ~ityl.ene: 143. Poitiere, John Belmeis, Archbishop o:·:
--- Richard Ilchester, Archdeacon of:
--- Raymond, Chancellor of: Pontigny, Cistercian monks or:
R
1.70,171. 1.45.
136' 1.'(0' l. 71' 172. 144,153,166,172, 1.58,174.
-Rainold or Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne: 144,164,174,175· Ralph de Beaumont: lb5.
Ralph de Broc (Ranu1f): 174. Ralph of L1sieux: 156,167. Raymond, Chancellor of P0 itiers: 170,171. Reginald, Earl o!· Cornwall: 136. Rheims: 136,145.
--- Henry or France, Archbishop of: 136,145,172,174.
179
--- Fu1k, Dean or: 175. Ri.chard, brother of John of Salisbury: 136,139,141,144,146,
149,150,159,160,161,163,169,173· Richard, son of Master Geoffrey, kinsman of John of salisbury:
138,168,172. Richard de Blosev111e, abbot of St. Mary de Voto (Vaeu): 145. Richard or Hommet, Constable or Normandy: 174. Richard Ilchester, Archdeacon of POitiers: 144,l'J3,158,166,
172,174. Richard de Lucy, Chief Justiciar o! Henry II: 1').::3,174. Richard of Sudbury: 161. Rigny, Cistercian monastery of, in Auxerre: 174. Robert, half-brother or John of Salisbury: 146,163. P.obert de r'hesney, Bishop of L1ncoln: 141. Robert, Count of Dreuz: 145. Robert Guiscard, rount of Roucy: 136. Robert Melun, Bishop of Hereford: 144,175. Robert de Mountfort: 174. RObert, Prior of l~ert::>n: 157,158. Roger F~tz, Count-3ishop or ~orcester: 144. Roger or SUdbury: 146,161. Roman Curia: 136,145,151. Rotrou de Beaumont, Archbishop of' Rouen: 154,174. Roucy, Robert Guiscard, Count of: 136. Rouen, Rotrou de Beaumont, Archbishop or: 154,174.
s -saint-Omer, ~landers: 136.
St. Amand, Abbot of: 152. St. Anastasia, JOhn of Naples, Cardinal-3ishop of': 1'74. st. Bertin, monastery of: 136. St. Edmunds, Benedictine abbey of: 168. St. Jean-de-Losne, proposed meeting or Barbarossa and Louis
VII at: 174. St. Yi.ary de voto (Vaeu), Richard de 3.Losevi11e, Abbot of: 145 St. Medard, Ingram, Abbot of: 148. Sts. ~ereus and Ach11leus, Henry of Pisa, Cardinal of: 136,145 St. Remy, Peter or ~elle, Abbot or: 136,137,143,145,152. Salisbury: 136.
See of: 139,140,144. J 0 celin or Balliol, Bishop of: 174,175.
--- John of Oxrord, Dean of: 174,1'75.
T
Santa Croce, Jerusalem, HumrJald, Cardinal of: 174. Scholastics, philosophy or: 145. Scutage, Great, of 1159: 174. Seez, Frogerius, Bishop or: 1"74. Serrride, Bishop of Chichester: 145. Soissons, Ivo de Nigella, count of: 136.
--- St. Drausius, Bishop of: 174. Solomon: 143. SOlon: 143.
Terrouanne-Boulogne, ~Ulo II, Bishop or: 138. ThaJ.es ot· ~Uletus: 143.
180
Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury: 145,170. Theoba.Ld IV, Count of' Blois and Trois: 143. Theod.orus, a transJ.a tor: 143. Thomas of canterbury, St.: 13b,l38,140,144,145,15l,l52,l53,
1)4,155,1?7,lb4,172,174,175. . Thomas fitz Bernard: 174. Throwley, Kent: 136. TOtnes, Baldwin, Archdeacon or·: 14b,l60. Trois (Troves), Henry, Count Palatine of: 143.
--- Tlleobe.J.d, Count or: 143. Tuscany: 144. Tusculum, Hugo, Cardinal-Bishop or: 174.
u -ursula, St., and companions, relics of: lb4.
v -Valesia (Porta Veneris): 143.
Vercelli, John Sarrazin, Abbot of: Val S. Pierre, Engelbert, Prior of: Victor IV, anti-Pope: 174.
w
142,171. 147,148.
-We.Lsh Campaign or Henry II, llb5: 144,174. Walter de L'Isle, Gustodian of King's Seal: 168,174. VTlbert, Prior or· cnrist Church, canterbury: 151. William I or· SiciJ.y: 1'74. WilJ.iam II or Sicily: 174. WiJ.J.iam of Hastings: 168. WilJ.iam, S)n of Paine: 136. WilJ.iam or Pavia: l3b. WiJ..Liam Turbe, Bishop of Norwich: 149,150,172. Wllliam or Ypres: 136. W~J.ton, council of: 13b.
181
Winchester: 145. 'V.'int::m, Council or: 136. worcester, Roger Fitz, Count-B~shop of: 144.
z -Zacharias: 143.
APPROVAL SHEET
The thesis submitted by Daniel V. Harkin, S.J.
has been read and approved by three members of the
Department of Classical Languages.
The final copies have been examined by the
director of the thesis and the signature which
appears below verifies the fact that any necessary
changes have been incorporated, and that the thesis
is now given final approval with reference to content,
form, and mechanical accuracy.
The thesis is therefore accepted in partial ful-
fillment or the requirements for the Degree of Master
of Arts.